Jake Shields Happy To Be Fighting Outside The UFC
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Jake Shields was unceremoniously released from the promotion after suffering a lackluster decision loss to Hector Lombard on the main card of March’s UFC 171 from Dallas.
Shields went into the bout as the No. 6-ranked contender in what may be the most stacked division in all of MMA, but he was let go like yesterday’s news after Dana White had seen enough of his grappling-heavy, nullifying style.
Like many others, Shields believes that the UFC simply doesn’t want to give top talent the money that they’re worth.
Speaking in an interview with Bloody Elbow, Shields detailed the circumstances surrounding his release:
“They were trying to cut the contract and renegotiate it down. I think they didn’t want to pay their fighters that much money. At this point, I’m happy to be fighting at a different show.”
That other show is World Series of Fighting (WSOF), where Shields will take on Ryan Ford in the main event of tonight’s (Sat., October 11, 2014) WSOF 14 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The lesser-known Ford may not be close to the names that Shields faced in the UFC, including a 2013 where he shut down Top 10-ranked opposition in Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia before running into Lombard.
However, that doesn’t mean that Ford isn’t still dangerous, and Shields has been in the game far too long than to underestimate his opponent. Despite the lack of footage available for Ford’s bouts, Shields believes that he’s a strong finisher:
“Unfortunately, I can’t find many of his fights online so I don’t know too much about him. He looks really strong, powerful and explosive. (He has) big knockout power and has a lot of knockout and submission wins. He definitely looks strong and explosive. I saw that fight where he threw that big front-kick knockout. It was obviously counter-able. I just wish I had more of his fights.”
Ford may be explosive, but Shields has made a career out of shutting down large and hard-hitting fighters. His wrestling and grappling credentials enable him to slow the fight own to a lull, where the suffocating Shields can render his foe effective with a stifling top game.
He may have came up short against Lombard, but he’s largely been able to shut down top contenders and send their hype train plummeting downward like he did with Maia at UFC Fight Night 29.
Aside from the money, that could be the reason that Shields was let go by the UFC. No one was clamoring to see him fight, yet his experience and record dictating a sizeable payday. Couple that with the fact that he could easily defeat fighters that the UFC was trying to build up as contenders, and he had to go.
But he’ll start anew in WSOF tonight. With Jon Fitch set to take on Rousimar Palhares for the title at WSOF 16, will Shields lock up the next shot at the belt this evening?
Photo Credit: Jason Silva for USA TODAY Sports
