Slidell, La. — Scott O’Shaughnessy wears many hats. He’s a detective with the Slidell Police Department and a member of their S.W.A.T. team. He’s also their Head Defensive Tactics Instructor.
“I always had a passion to serve,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I continually applied for the department and applied and applied. I think I literally applied probably 6 times before they finally said, ‘OK we’re sick of this guy. Let’s go ahead and give him a shot.'”
When he became a police officer in 2014, O’Shaughnessy had already been training in Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts for about 10 years– a skill that he’s been able to use to keep himself and the recruits safe on the job.
“We don’t want anybody to get hurt and Jiu-Jitsu is a big portion of controlling someone without really injuring them,” O’Shaughnessy said.
In turn, the experience O’Shaughnessy has gotten with the Slidell PD, has helped put things in perspective for him in the octagon.
“You look at it and you compare what I’ve been through in real life,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I’ve had people literally try to kill me. I’ve had people shoot guns at me. I’ve been in that situation, so whenever you look at the big picture and I’m in an octagon with somebody, he’s not going to kill me. I’ve been in way worse and I’m going to come out of that.”
The Irish Spartan as he’s known in the octagon, has been a professional MMA fighter since 2010, and is now 9-1 at his current weight class after his last win in June. He is set to defend his welterweight title Friday night against Chris Anthony in the co-main event of the Battle of New Orleans 33.
“My intention is to go out there, win, defend my belt, keep a regional title, which is important to me and honestly just see where it goes,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Start making some phone calls and see who wants me to compete for them.”