Cesar Gracie talks Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez and Nick Diaz: - "Jake [Shields] is one of the...

Cesar Gracie talks Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez and Nick Diaz:

- "Jake [Shields] is one of the world’s best welterweights. In my opinion he is the #2 in the world. His next fight will be against Dan Henderson at middleweight. Depending on how he does will determine his future weight class."

- "Shinya Aoki presents many challenges [for Gilbert Melendez]. He [Aoki] is extremely flexible and has good submissions. It is important to not trade submissions with him. Strikes must be employed to keep him off balance and uncomfortable."

- We are currently in discussion for Nick [Diaz]’s next fight. It is possible that he will be competing for Dream in his next fight. If he fights in Strikeforce first he will probably fight a weight class up at 185lbs. As of yet we do not have a firm opponent.

HT: m-1global.com
Strikeforce: Nashville on CBS coverage

almost 2 years ago Nick Thomas 25 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Melendez should use his wrestling/ground & pound and turn Aoikis face into ground beef..

by LtotheK on Mar 8, 2010 11:21 AM EST reply actions

Melendez should not. He would get subbed if he took it to the ground with Aoki. He needs to play a distance boxing game to have a shot at winning

by Loco Chewy on Mar 8, 2010 2:24 PM EST up reply actions

Melendez is a Gracie BJJ guy, I’m pretty sure he would not get subbed that easily. Plus, he’s much biger than guys Aoki is used to fighting. I fdon’t think this is going to be a fun night for Aoki..

by LtotheK on Mar 8, 2010 3:37 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

No matter what Gracie BJJ’s are smart, well coached and play to their strengths. Melendez would be smart to avoid what is by far the best trick for the one trick pony that is Shinya Aoki. I am a big fan of Melendez and most of the Gracie BJJ guys (Jake shields rubs me the wrong way). I don’t think he would get subbed easy either but Aoki has subbed some guys with impressive BJJ credentials and it would not surprise me if Melendez got subbed by him

by Loco Chewy on Mar 8, 2010 4:57 PM EST up reply actions

Diaz at MW??

fresh off winning the title an they want him to move up?? I would rather see him defend his title but they must be tryin to put together some higher profile bout for a dream cad.. Sakuraba??

have u ever even been in a fight??

by MMAJUNKIE__83 on Mar 8, 2010 11:35 AM EST via mobile reply actions

For Dream it will be Mach.

by John Nash on Mar 8, 2010 12:33 PM EST up reply actions

Or they are assuming he could go for a title shot after this next SF card...

Kind of signals to their confidence in Shields in his fight with Hendo.

by Razreshat on Mar 8, 2010 1:10 PM EST up reply actions

who's #1? royce?

by slantedwindows on Mar 8, 2010 11:40 AM EST reply actions

the best bud

i ever smoked was with nick a few years ago in his basement.. U ever see those military gas mask’s??? Apparently thiers a conversion kit to turn it into a bong.. thanx guys:)

have u ever even been in a fight??

by MMAJUNKIE__83 on Mar 8, 2010 11:43 AM EST via mobile reply actions

it's called a Grass Mask

and they will get you so high you can pull of omaplatas in your sleep.

by rkilla on Mar 8, 2010 7:47 PM EST up reply actions

I just spit out my coffee reading that Cesar considers Jake #2 at 170. What does he base that on? A somewhat middling victory over Paul Daley?

by Worldisart on Mar 8, 2010 12:25 PM EST via mobile reply actions

well I am sure cesar knows if he tools Nick in the gym as well .

So there is that. I could see shields dominating in the ufc. I think him vs. fitch kos or alves would be an awsome fight that would be very winnable for jake

by Rayce. on Mar 8, 2010 12:46 PM EST up reply actions

I think Nick Diaz

would stomp Jake into the ground. Both standing and rolling. Just my opinion though.

by Riney on Mar 8, 2010 6:44 PM EST up reply actions

He probably bases that on being his manager?

It’s not a huge stretch though. Daley has waxed some top 10 talent in his last few fights and Shields absoloutely owned him in their fight.

I think Shields would do a lot better in the UFC at 170 than a lot of people are wiling to admit.

by LtotheK on Mar 8, 2010 12:49 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Shields didn’t “absolutely own him”. He did sit in mount for 3 minutes in the first round landing soft punches and clearly won the round, but he got rocked in the 2nd and Shields had a lot of trouble getting him down before eventually getting it there. Jake did totally school him on the ground, but it wasn’t a complete cakewalk of a fight.

http://www.twitter.com/TB_Money

by Tim Burke on Mar 8, 2010 1:08 PM EST up reply actions

Did we watch the same fight? Because in the fight I saw, Shields got him down anytime he wanted and tooled him on the ground with pretty much zero threat the whole time. It wasn’t one of Daly’s best. fights that’s for sure..

by LtotheK on Mar 8, 2010 1:52 PM EST up reply actions

Uh, no. He only completed 2 of his 5 takedown attempts. It obviously wasn’t one of Daley’s best fights…he got submitted. But he gave Jake a better fight that most seem to remember.

http://www.twitter.com/TB_Money

by Tim Burke on Mar 8, 2010 2:03 PM EST up reply actions

I have no idea why that would surprise you

Its not really a stretch either. Shields is by far the most successful welterweight not in the UFC. He’s on a twelve fight winning streak and eight of those fights have been by stoppage. And they weren’t all nobodies. He beat Daley who is top ten, and a few pretty decent middleweights in Lalwer, Mayhem, and Okami.

The man known simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"

by Neil Manich on Mar 8, 2010 12:53 PM EST up reply actions

Shields is by far the most successful welterweight not in the UFC

This often – for unexplained reasons – gets people listed as number two. Can anyone explain this?

Personally, I ask myself: Would he get past Fitch? Alves? Paulo? The UFC welterweight top ten is pretty sick.

by asa on Mar 8, 2010 3:30 PM EST up reply actions

I think he could have a tough time with a lot of the guys in the top 10 UFC 170, but I still think he would do better than most.

There’s a reason GSP mentioned Shields as a guy he would like to fight..in fact he called it his dream fight.

by LtotheK on Mar 8, 2010 3:39 PM EST up reply actions

I think its just because he's one of the few challenges left

He hasn’t lost, so as GSP keeps knocking guys back, he’s really the number 1 contender by process of elimination. Whether you agree with this or not isn’t really that big of a deal. I don’t really know if I do, I’d probably take Fitch and Kos over him and even money on Alves. But the original point is that its not crazy to call him the number 2.

The man known simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"

by Neil Manich on Mar 8, 2010 4:15 PM EST up reply actions

Crazy? Naw

It’s not crazy, but its all speculative, so I’m not really sweating it, just curious.

I also have to agree with the GSP rationale. Good point, man. Georges has great respect for submission wrestlers so I wonder if that’s also a draw for him?

by asa on Mar 8, 2010 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

Welterweight in SF?

So Hieron left SF, right? That’s why he’s not fighting Nick? Or is he on his last fight and they don’t wanna give him the title fight in case he wins?

by asa on Mar 8, 2010 2:26 PM EST reply actions

Hieron is a free agent but SF tries to re-sign him but Jay knows that he’s the only real challenger for Diaz at WW.
Jay is trying to get more money out of SF, money he probably isn’t worth (he’s not a draw and not an exciting fighter).

If Hieron doesn’t get resigned, Nick will fight at MW until Woodley is ready for a title shot.

by KOQ24 on Mar 8, 2010 6:51 PM EST up reply actions