Former LSU FB Shawn Jordan trades pads for gloves and is thriving in UFC

Shawn Jordan.jpeg
(L-R) Shawn Jordan lands a shot on Devin Cole on July 22, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Getty/Zuffa, LLC)
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on October 18, 2013 at 8:05 PM, updated October 18, 2013 at 8:06 PM

What started as simple locker room jokes turned into a career for former LSU fullback Shawn Jordan.  

"I was always horse playing," Jordan said. "I was a state champion wrestler -- I would just wrestle and throw guys around and stuff and (MMA) was just always something we would watch as a team and joke around about it. I was a fullback which is a rough position and they would say 'You should try it.'" 

He did. Now the fighter is preparing for his 20th professional fight and fifth at the sport's highest level. Jordan takes on Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 166 in Houston Saturday at 9 p.m. and while the fighter is competing in a different arena, the lessons he learned as a member of the LSU football program have helped him make a career in the Octagon.  

"You train year-round for football and that training and dedication and discipline kind of carries over to this sport,"Jordan said. "In the UFC, you are training year-round.  It is a totally different type of training, but you need that discipline."

His transition to fighting began after he finished playing football at LSU in 2007, the year LSU won a national championship, because he "still had the competitive drive."

With some encouragement from a friend, Jordan began training and took an amateur fight. From then on, he was hooked.

"I fought 10 amateur fights in a year and then I turned pro and fought three professional fights in a month," he said.  

Jordan fought frequently partially because of his football background. 

"Playing football -- you have a game every week," he said. "You constantly train. So after my fights, I was still training and other fights would come up and I'd take 'em." 

Shawn Jordan was the fullback on LSU's 2007 national championship team.

His first shot at the big-time came with a national promotion called Bellator. After a few fights with that organization he was asked to fill in for a fighter in the Strikeforce promotion, which was owned by the UFC at the time. Strikeforce merged with the UFC shortly after and Jordan was added to the UFC's roster. 

The road to the big leagues of MMA didn't come without a few bumps. Jordan has four losses on his record but has never had back-to-back loses. He credits his resiliency to LSU strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt.

"He really beat mental toughness into us," Jordan said. "If you lose you, you just get back up and train and go back for the next one or quit. I'm not a quitter. I may retire one day, but it is not going to be because I lost." 

He also credits his time as a football player in helping him juggle the media obligations and public appearances required of him.

"LSU took a lot of pride in training their athletes how to do interviews and handle themselves like professionals, even though they are amateur athletes," Jordan said. 

He admitted that he hasn't been able to keep up with his alma mater.

"I don't really keep up with a lot of sports. I'm not a big sports fan surprisingly," Jordan said. "I normally kind of know whats going on with LSU, but this year it's been in the middle of my camp and I really have not paid attention to it too much." 

The focus he has in his camp seem to be working. Despite his background as a wrestler, Jordan has developed a reputation as a heavy hitter.

He knocked his first UFC opponent out in the second round of their fight and 11 of his 15 professional victories have come via knockout, with most of those coming in the early rounds.

"The thing about heavyweights is most fights don't go three rounds," Jordan said. "The guys are so big and they hit so hard, the first one to connect (can win). But I don't get paid by the minute so the faster the better to me."

Jordan expects the same thing from his fight Saturday.

"Both of us are big heavyweights and heavy-handed," he said, "so I think there's going to be some fireworks early on." 


Amos Morale III can be reached at or 504.826.3405.