Jake Shields Interview: World's Finest
by Steven T. Kelliher on Nov 30, 2009 2:06 PM EST
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PrintI recently had the opportunity to conduct an interview with current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields for Tapology in order to discuss his title victory over Jason "Mayhem" Miller, his thoughts on the fight in terms of difficulty and fan response, his hopes of fighting Georges St-Pierre in the future, and much more.
On Mayhem:
Tapology: Regarding your last fight against Jason "Mayhem" Miller, how did you see the fight going and how do you feel with the win?
Shields: Overall I think the fight went pretty well. Obviously I would have liked to get the finish, but I got the win. I thought I dominated him pretty much, but Miller did a great job of defending everything I did early on.
Tapology: There was a big submission attempt on Miller’s part at the end of the third round. It’s hard to tell watching the fight, but was that attempt close?
Shields: I’m not going to take anything away from Miller’s choke, but if you watch the fight he had his arm out to the side, not behind my head, and I was pushing my head back really hard to make sure he couldn’t do that. Overall it was a strong choke, but I never felt like it was a serious threat. That is Miller’s strongest point so I worked a lot from that position in training.
Tapology: Where do you rank this fight in terms of difficulty? Was it your most difficult fight in recent memory?
Shields: It was the most difficult in the last two years. I have had difficult fights—against Yushin Okami and other guys—but definitely this was the most difficult recently.
Fan response:
Tapology: How do you think the fight delivered in terms of excitement for fans? It seems that people were split down the middle with some loving it and some hating it.
Shields: I think I could have done a little bit more on my part, but I think part of it is the U.S. fan perspective on grappling. There were quite a bit of reversals, passes, sweeps, but I think the U.S. fans have difficulty understanding that somewhat.
On GSP:
Tapology: I know you get the UFC question all of the time, so I’m not going to ask it, but you mentioned that it is important to you to fight the best people you can fight. Georges St. Pierre is considered the best welterweight in the world right now, so is it important to you to get a fight with him within the next couple of years, whether it be in Strikeforce or the UFC?
Shields: It is important. I feel like I have to fight him unless someone beats him. To be the best, you have to fight the best, and GSP is for sure considered to be the best. It would be awesome if we could get that together in a co-promotion, and the way Strikeforce is going, who knows, it could happen.Tapology: You are happy fighting for Strikeforce right now, but at what point does the importance of fighting a guy like St. Pierre weight heavily enough that you would consider jumping ship in order to make that happen?
Shields: The bottom line is that the UFC is not going to let you jump ship after one fight, so it’s not a realistic option. At some point you have to look and weigh your options between money and fighting the best. Hopefully it will happen, but at this point I just have to concentrate on my Strikeforce contract and after that I will sit down with my managers and we’ll figure out what I want to do.
Tapology: GSP mentioned you specifically as someone he would be interested in fighting at a recent Q&A session before UFC 105. How does it make you feel to be directly addressed by him in that manner?
Shields: He mentioned that it was his dream fight, you know. He mentioned Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor and him against me, which is awesome because it shows me that in his mind I’m the best guy he hasn’t faced. I have wanted that fight for a while, but it’s nice for him to say that he wants it as well.
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Jake Shields is talented and all, definitely the best WW not in the UFC, but GSP would just pick him apart on the feet. Second round TKO.
by ufc4 on Nov 30, 2009 2:51 PM EST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
just like how he'd beat most if not all of the WWs in the world..
Jake obviously wants to fight in the UFC, so maybe after his EliteXC Strikeforce contract expires.
by Anton Tabuena on Nov 30, 2009 3:11 PM EST up reply actions
Jake Shields would get owned by other guys not named GSP in the UFC. Let him have his shot with Alves, Miller, Saunders and Swick…and then see how he does against those guys first….
Shields is just another wet blanket that just waits out wins…I went to his gym in Berkeley and it’s just a long black hallway with mats. It’s worse than a high school gymnasium. No bags, no cages, nothing that resembles a MMA gym…
Yeah,
Jake Shields is just a blanket who’s finished over half of his fights. And who hadn’t gone the distance for 3.5 years/ his last 8 fights.
Look, Mayhem is a tough dude. He’s damn near impossible to finish (ask GSP), has very good defense and conditioning, and is a crafty fighter that you can never afford to make a dumb mistake against.
Seriously, 1 fight goes to decision and now he’s a ‘blanket’. You’re the same kind of guy who instantly said Anderson was boring after the Cote & Leites fights. You’re the same kind of guy who said Shogun was washed up. You’re the same kind of guy who calls GSP a blanket.
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'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Nov 30, 2009 8:29 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
WHACK!!!! Nice work Elliot, somebody had to get in there and represent the rational amongst us!! It astounds me when people say Shields is a LnPer. No decisions in his last 8 fights. On what are they basing their opinions?!?!
They may be people who “enjoyed” early Shields fights where his corner would scream things like “Just lay on him” and “Don’t do anything!”
I wish I was joking.
by Jonathan Snowden on Dec 1, 2009 12:38 PM EST up reply actions
Whoa...EASY, killer
I never said anything about Anderson or Shogun. I was only talking Shields…. Who has he fought that even rivals Top Tier WW’s in Strike Force? He has shitty stand-up, and he has only fough mid-tier guys, mostly humping them to death. His last TKO was more love taps than punches.
Dude, it’s nothing personal. I’m a Bay Area guy, and so is Shields. But let’s put him up against some real top tier WW’s and then we can discuss GSP.
You can now get off the Jake Shields Nuthugger train…
Shields has fought
Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami on the same day (and won both), Semtex Daley, Mach Sakurai, Kazuo Misaki (a draw), Toby Imada, Nick Thompson, Mike Pyle- yeah, definitely not any “real top tier WW’s” in there.
by ufc4 on Dec 1, 2009 9:28 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Did you just say Condit is "top tier"????
You just made my argument
I hate defending Shields but I feel I must. Let’s see he’s fought and beaten:
Hayato Sakurai (#17 WW)
Paul Daley (#10 WW)
Carlos Condit (#8 WW)
Robbie Lawler (#11 MW)
Yushin Okami (#9 MW)
Jason Miller (formerly ranked MW)
And had a draw with Kazuo Misaki (#12 MW)
Compare that to John Fitch with wins over (#7 Paulo Thiago and #3 Thiago Alves)
Josh Koscheck (#24 Dustin Hazelett, #20 Chris Lytle, and #16 Anthony Johnson)
Thiago Alves (#20 Chris Lytle, #15 Karo Parisyan, #6 Matt Hughes, and #4 Josh Koscheck)
And, of course, he’s won his last 13 fights while also fighting going up in class against MW. As much as I dislike the guy, he’s for real.
Dude
stop sippin on that Hatorade. First off, the reason I brought up Anderson and Shogun was that the MMA community is very fickle, and quick to turn their back on fighters the second they have a lackluster performance.
The fact that you’re saying shit like:
Who has he fought that even rivals Top Tier WW’s… shitty stand-up… humping them to death… more love taps than punches… get off the Jake Shields Nuthugger train
Just goes to show that A) You REALLY dislike Shields and probably haven’t seen all of his fights, he’s had some very exciting ones, and B) You’re so biased that your opinion can’t be taken seriously.
Shields has fought (and beat) some truly elite fighters, hell- GSP has even said that a fight with Shields is his own personal dream match. I like Shields, but i’m far from a nuthugger, it’s just that you’re really trying to discredit a great fighter.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Dec 1, 2009 3:34 PM EST up reply actions
Its all perception
You like him as a figher and I don’t. I don’t enjoy watching any of his fights because they’re lack luster. He’s good ( I guess) but he’s not great. And for him to call out Cung Le after THAT perfomance was a bit lame on his part. Is he going to pick apart Cung Le? I don’t know because I don’t care to see any fights Shields would fight in. But again, that’s just my opinion. It’s like everyone saying Tom Brady is great because he has 3 Super Bowl rings. Trent Dilfert has one ring, and Rob Johnson hass one ring over Dan Marino… does it make them “great” QBs?
Just difference in opinions, people…
Tom Brady is a great QB
and so are Dilfert, Johnson, and Marino.
But that’s aside the point, he called out Cung Le because he was the last beltholder, and he probably would dominate Le with his wrestling and jiu jitsu game.
If you don’t think that someone like Jake Shields is exciting, it’s probably because you don’t understand the complexities of the ground game, and you should probably watch some other sport with guaranteed standup/ excitement, like K-1/ boxing, or the WWE
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Dec 2, 2009 6:37 PM EST up reply actions
You just said Dilfert and Johnson are “GREAT QB’s”…. jesus…your definition of “great” astounds me….
I do appreciate the technicalities of the ground as I train and fight as well. However, if you’re lying on someone for 5 rounds and doing nothing, you’re right, I don’t understand that…
Hehe...
:) The “It’s worse than a high school gymnasium” statement made me laugh.
Sure, it doesn’t have the speed bags, etc. that gyms with more space have, but the quality of training partners available there is quite high. The big dawg Jason Manly has legit BJJ credentials, and both he and Jake are willing to roll with students.
How often do average people get to go to a gym like AKA or Jackson’s and train with pro fighters? I’ve trained with Jake, Jason, both Diaz brothers, Gil, and some of the the other amateur/pro MMA fighters (and I have absolutely zero ambition to fight at all).
Eh. But who wants to train with a “wet blanket”, right?
Exactly
First and foremost, Shield’s gym is a place to go for elite grappling instruction. He’s a pro, and trains with some very good striking coaches himself, but you don’t go to a Gracie fighter school to become a muay thai brawler, you go there to learn some jits.
Just like you would go to Xtreme Couture to learn good wrestling/ boxing, or how you would go to Chute Boxe to learn some vicious muay thai, it’s all about what you as an individual can get from the school.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Dec 1, 2009 7:06 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed
But don’t advertise your gym as a complete MMA gym with Muay Thai instructors… I don’t think I’ve seen anything resembling Muay Thai out of Shields. So why advertise as such? Maybe I just don’t like the guy and everything he does bothers me….must be PMSing
???
Have you taken a Muay Thai class with Ra or Yonas? I’m sure both of them would be able to show you a thing or two about striking? :)
I doubt that
I was there watching when they were teaching their class, and their technique in
Muay Thai is subpar at best… maybe to an untrained eye, yes it looks cool and all…but from a Muay Thai fighter from Thailand, not so much
To who-GSP and Fitch? Well duh, who isn’t? Nobody is trying to say he’s the best fighter in the world but the guy is a good fighter. Your attempts to prove otherwise just make yourself sound foolish.
by ufc4 on Dec 1, 2009 12:52 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
No offense, but define good fighter? How’s his stand up? None? Then he’s not a fighter. he’s a wrestler….
Matt Hughes doesn’t have any standup either. That hasn’t stopped him from being considered the greatest WW of all time.
Is Matt Hughes not a fighter?
How about Randy Couture?
Or Royce Gracie?
I'd like
to see you fight Shields, in a kickboxing rules only match. He actually has some decent striking, it’s just that the guys he’s fought lately (Daley, Lawler, even Mayhem) all have very good offensive striking capabilities. Taking them down/ submitting them/ positionally dominating the fight is the smart thing to do.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Dec 1, 2009 3:37 PM EST up reply actions
I actually would fight him stand up.
Yes, I do train Muay Thai for about 8 years and have fought in a few fights in Thailand. I would absoluttely fight him in stand up, no hesitation. Would I win? No idea, but would it be fun? Absolutely…
To who-GSP and Fitch? Well duh, who isn’t? Nobody is trying to say he’s the best fighter in the world but the guy is a good fighter. Your attempts to prove otherwise just make yourself sound foolish.
by ufc4 on Dec 1, 2009 12:52 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I personally think Jake would fare well in the UFC’s welterweight division, but not well enough to warrant a legitimate title shot. I think he has shown he can hang with and beat guys like Condit and Daley, but I’d like to see him against a Kampmann or a Paulo Thiago before we throw him in against a Fitch, Koscheck, Alves, GSP.
I personally think he lacks the speed to pose a significant threat to the last few, aside from Fitch, who is not fast but is just as much—if not more—of a grinder than Shields is.
by Steven T. Kelliher on Nov 30, 2009 11:34 PM EST reply actions
I personally like how he matches up with GSP. Once again, the less popular perspective. Nonetheless, I’d love to see it.
http://www.mmarecap.com
I don't see how Sheilds could possibly win that fight.
He almost certainly won’t get the take down, and if he did, he’s not subbing GSP. He would get annihilated standing, and he wouldn’t be able to stop the take down either.
Just another uncompetitive beat down by St. Pierre.
Well
I think Shields would get an instant title shot if he signed with the UFC, I mean the guy was a top 3 WW before fighting regularly at MW (where he is now top 10). GSP has said that he really wants a fight w/ Jake as well.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Dec 1, 2009 5:12 PM EST up reply actions
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