The UFC's Signing of Jake Shields Shows Dana White's Commitment to the Sport of MMA

My colleague Jonathan Snowden pointed out yesterday that Jake Shields botched his negotiations with Strikeforce, losing the negotiating leverage that would have allowed him to enter the UFC at 185lbs rather than welterweight and won't be much of a draw for the UFC anyway.

I can't argue with a single point he made in his post, but I don't care. Zuffa is doing the right thing in signing Shields, both for the sport and for their business. 

Zach Arnold commented:

This is a real sport. As much as I'm sure ABC or other networks didn't want to air New Jersey Devil NHL games when they were the masters of the ‘neutral zone trap,' they aired the games because, hey, it's a sport.

He quotes Dave Meltzer from the F4W boards (registration required) and points out that Meltzer is thinking with his pro-wrestling cap on here:

"They'd better match him with a good stand-up fighter with no takedown defense or submission defense. At least then you know the match will be over quickly. If not, there is a lesson already out there about putting him on live TV.

"Honestly, the less they show of him the better. You showcase people to their strengths and hide their weaknesses. You look at that for every person and then expose them accordingly. Either a guy with no sub defense and takedown defense, or hide him on the undercards where nobody can see him except the local ticket buyers, preferably on a Vegas show where nobody shows up until late. Having people sleep through Jon Fitch fights does less to make them want to see him against GSP again. However, if they never saw those fights, and marketed a 15 fight winning streak and had people talk him up, they wouldn't know enough to not want to see him.

"they should talk about his win streak, have other fighters talk about him, never air him on television (unless they sign Melvin Manhoef) and show him training. The thing is, GSP will get him over on promos but if people actually saw him fight, they won't believe GSP when he talks about what a threat he is."

I have to strongly disagree with Meltzer here as well. Shields has been in some not so great fights. But he's also been in plenty of good ones. Personally, I loved the Mayhem vs Shields match as a great grappling battle. It was just wildly inappropriate for prime time on CBS. On a UFC PPV, I think the fans could appreciate the skill and drama of two top grapplers battling, plus elbows are legal in the UFC and that will make Shields' game much more violent and entertaining.  

But frankly, Shields is good for the UFC because they desperately need new challengers for welterweight champ Georges St Pierre. He's about to lap their welterweight division and Shields' potent mix of wrestling and submission skills will force GSP to beat him up on the feet or risk losing his title. 

That's why I'm not shocked to see the UFC throwing Shields in against a contender like Martin Kampmann right off. They always make the guys who want to come in making large dollars earn their pay. Sometimes, like with Brock Lesnar, it's a win/win. Other times, like with Sokoudjou, it doesn't work out so well for the fighter. 

This way they can put the winner of Shields/Kampmann in against GSP right away and whoever wins will have beaten a credible enough challenger to have earned the title shot. Personally, I'm almost more excited about seeing Shields vs Jon Fitch or Josh Koscheck than GSP. The Cesar Gracie vs AKA rivalry is one that I can't get enough of. Too bad Nick Diaz won't be moving back to the UFC anytime soon to participate in that feud as well. And for those who think Fitch vs Shields would be awful, I don't think you understand: styles make fights. Two good wrestler/grapplers can be a combustive mix, or make for bad kickboxing, I'm willing to take that chance.

It's also very important for the longer term growth of the UFC that they continue to market themselves as a sport. That's what will develop the serious fans and press coverage their MMA offerings will need to weather the inevitable downturns ahead.