Jake Shields: Still Seeking Respect

Jake Shields defeated Dan Henderson to earn his UFC contract, now he gets his shot

As former champion of Rumble on the Rock, Elite XC, Shooto and Strikeforce, you’d think Jake Shields would garner more respect than he does. Sure, his list of defeated opponents doesn’t read like a who’s who of MMA, but Dan Henderson’s does, and Sheilds disproved two things with his win over that legend: he showed he can’t be defined as a boring fighter and that he is upper echelon. Period.

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Beating Dan Henderson is a feat big enough in itself to make most fighters smile all the way to their grave. Just look at some of the men  Hendo’s beat: Michael Bisping, Rich Franklin, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort and Renzo Gracie back in 2001. Henderson is still one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world. He left the UFC with another title shot in reach. His only recent losses were to Anderson Silva and Rampage Jackson. Consider that in spite of an early Hendo flurry Shields at times outwrestled Henderson in an impressive manner.  Previously only larger opponents such as Rampage and Anderson Silva have made Henderson look overmatched at any point in a fight.

GSP recently called Shields an amazing fighter and one he’d love to fight. It’s a match-up I’d love to see because GSP, a man who never wrestled in high school or college, consistently manhandles NCAA champion wrestlers. In Chael Sonnen's stead GSP beats Andreson Silva. GSP would never have fallen victim to that triangle choke, and would not have suffered as much as Sonnen did on the feet. For that reason GSP could arguably be pound for pound king. And fight fans are talking about Shields fighting GSP and Anderson Silva.  Compare that with fighting in Strikeforce and  Shields must have goose pimples just thinking about it.

Just to have people talking about these opponents shows Shields has arrived. He may have more to prove, but time will show he deserves to be in the top contender pile in the talented UFC middleweight division.

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There’s another aspect to Shields, though, and that’s the cold look in his pre-fight glare. All fighters are a different person when they step into the octagon. They have to be. But Shields becomes icy, cold-blooded, his eyes like shards of a hundred thousand year old glacier.  That’s the trait that makes Anderson Silva a stone cold finisher and one that could bring Shields the middleweight title.

By Renko Stykanka
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer