Jake Shields officially joins the UFC (not yet); Will fight as a Welterweight
Posted on July 16, 2010, 05:45 AM by Anton GurevichAfter long months of speculation about his future, former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields has officially signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. According to the official statement at Graciefighter.com (Cesar Gracie Team website), Shields will make his debut inside the Octagon as a Welterweight:
"Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170lbs weight division in the UFC. After careful consideration and consulting with UFC representatives it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight.
Jake's opponent is one of the UFC's top contenders and will be announced shortly."
Shields is a strong addition to the UFC Welterweight division, especially after defeating the promotion's castaway Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Nashville. One of the best Submission Artists in the game, Shields has a variety of opponents to choose from, including the veteran Dane Martin Kampmann and possibly the winner of Fitch-Alves UFC 117 bout.
Jake Shields' career achievements
Career record:
25-4-1 (3 KO's, 10 Submissions, 12 Decisions)
14-fight winning streak
Notable Victories:
Hayato Sakurai, Toby Imada, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Nick Thompson, Paul Daley
Robbie Lawler, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Dan Henderson
Titles and Championships:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Cesar Gracie (from February 2007)
Strikeforce Middleweight Champion
Shooto Middleweight Champion
Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Tournament Winner
Elite XC Welterweight Champion
Updated
Sports Illustrated's Josh Gross tweets: "Jake Shields isn't officially signed with the UFC. The money is agreed to, but the contract isn't finalized. Next week most likely." Well, it looks like we'll have to wait at least a couple of days for the official announcement from the UFC.
Comments
shieds is an excellent fighter but is boring as hell
A shields GSP fight would be a major snoozefest!
actually seeing gsp own shields at his own game would be pretty interesting...
@muaythai7...Im willing to bet you that GSP does not own Shields...dumbass nut rider
Yeah, and I'm sure SpiderSilva does ha ?
I wonder how many wins he will need to get before he faces GSP for the title, I'm guessing if he takes out someone like Kampman he'll get a title shot depending on if Fitch wins or loses, I think if Fitch wins he deserves a shot b4 Shields
Why not have Fitch/Shields and the winner gets the title shot?
Why is Shields coming in at 170???
His momentum and high ranking is at 185 ... he just beat Hendo ... This is a mistake ...
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Isn't Jake Shields in the EA MMA game? I thought Dana said no fighter in that game would ever fight in the UFC?
Hah, poor Stickin. Probably fell asleep waiting to post it. Drooling on his keyboard right now.
Lol, yea I am used to it now tho.
Damn Dana must have talked him out of fighting at MW which a shame once A Silva moves on it's an open division. anyways i wonder who he'll get first
snoooooooooooooze lol
he needs to eat some meat so he can actually knock someone out on the ground. his GnP against henderson was embarissing
ye it must have something to do with the training in that camp both Diaz bro's and Melendez lack striking power , they all seem to prefer landing accurate strikes with less power. Although Nick Diaz is able to finish dudes by landing a high volume of accurate strikes rather than 1 punch KO power.
I can't see what contender is free to fight in the near future? Who do you think it is?
It would have to be Kampmann, every other top contender is booked in to fight
How funny would it be if he lost his UFC debut?
why do you always type like youre writing a song, or a poem
very interesting,but i don't think he oppose a big treat to the top 3 ww,especially yhe champ
i am not excited about that!!! dont think he will make more than 4 fights for the UFC!!!! he is so boring to watch!!!!!
The Hitman is going to take care of Shields. I like the guy but I think he will get a rude awakening in the UFC. I guess we will have to see just how good his wrestling really is.
YAY!!!
Maybe Dan Hardy will be his opponent . Last interview he said he was fighting at UFC 120 but didn't have an opponent yet.
Jake Sheilds is a bitch!
So is the person who posted that...
because shields is better than most of the WW in the UFC
Say what????
right on, about time he goes to the UFC. I think he will have a good career there
A Shields vs GSP match would be great to watch!! If u are a fan of the actual sport and not just violence at least. You know Dana paid him well tho, because Coker said that when they talked numbers that they were "way off." So obviously Shields wanted a good amount of money and Dana gave it to him. Which I am glad because Shields is worth it and deserves recognition. Its kind of puzzling that Batista is a priority, while Shields was released without to much hesitation...
yeah for sure SUC... all the people crying about this are probably a bunch of beer drinking rednecks who boo when the fights go to grappling. IIIIFFFF the GSP Shields fight ever happens, it will be a great technical war... i would be surprised if GSP tried to keep it standing.
Lol, true because GSP says that he has been grounding opponents lately because their strengths have been striking, so why play into their strengths? So with Shields, it would actually be different because of Jake's BJJ.... GSP has much better stand-up from what I have seen, so in all actuality it may end up being a standing fight.
Cmon guys, Mayhem Miller is seen as a nobody, and Sheilds counldnt finish him. Jakes a one dimensional fighter at best, hes lucky to have gone this far.
having a 14 fight win streak is not lucky, one dimensional or not... apparently that dimension is years ahead of his opponents.
@HunterB I agree 100%...the guy is a top 3 or maybe even 2 grappler in the UFC. Look at GSP's one dimension and his success...Shields' 1 dimension is better than GSP's
cool maybe him and GSP could have a lay-n-pray fight! seriously jake shields? this guy bores 95% of the viewers! the other 5% that like him are the girlfriends of the fans mma
i agree hope jake gets his ass knocked out by dan hardy
Lol, why do you guys hate on Jake Shield's so much? Is it because he is boring? If that's the reason for hating on him, then you people might as well hate on Gsp.
Jake Shields is also one of the greater fighters in mma. Because he doesn't bang or finsh people off, you people automatically asume he isn't going to do well. Well then then you might as well hate on everyone else: Gsp, Jon Fitch, Clay Guida, Gray Maynard, Rashad Evans (as of late performances), an etc... those are only a few examples of the people you might as well hate. Imo he is one of the greatest ww and mw (stands a better chance in the ww division) in the UFC, second to Gsp though. But frankly, if anyone is to take the belt form Gsp, he may have the best chance of doing so.
Fitch, Guida, Maynard and Evans all fight at a higher pace and are much more dynamic than Shields. GSP on the other hand, is almost the same as Shields...on paper... I do believe that Shields' future in the UFC is quite promising though. Even though his technique and skill is up there, he will try to elevate his game to a higher standard in order to run with the pack and eventually trying to become the leader of the pack. Best of luck to him on a long and vicious road.
Damn...not many people know much about MMA here outside of a few top UFC guys. That's sad because Jake Shields is easily one of the best fighters out there and I'm glad he's coming back at his natural welter weight. This guy's ground game is easily top 3 in the whole organization and if you disagree then I'm sorry you dont know MMA. Jake is an animal and honestly the only way GSP beats him is in a stand up and not even Hendo could knock him out...this is a guy who beat Fitch in the Gracie BJJ open not only beat but choked out and he beat 3 time BJJ heavyweight champion Vinicius Maghilaes in a BJJ tourney you might remember him from TUF when he was on team Mir, beat Diego Sanchez in a Abu Dahbi and Charuto who is BJ Penn's BJJ coach...this guy is the real deal. This is a guy who can put GSP on his back and finish him or ride out a decision...I know maybe 3 of you really who he is and what he's capable of. Honestly there really arent many top guys who are available for him to fight right now and to be honest Kampmann is a step back but he might be the only available guy