Middleweight Championship bout: Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson
Odds: ( Shields / Henderson )
In the main event of the evening, dynamic grappler Jake Shields will look to defend his Middleweight title against former two-division PRIDE champion and UFC veteran Dan Henderson. Shields has looked great in Strikeforce, but Henderson is easily the toughest fight of his entire career and presents some tough stylistic obstacles, so he is going to have his hands full if he wants to keep that momentum.
Shields is prolific on the ground, with great submissions and a great ability to control his opponent’s body from a wide variety of positions. He doesn’t have world class wrestling, but his takedowns are better than most other primarily jiu-jitsu based fighters. His boxing is serviceable at best, but he is not a threat to beat any competent striker in the standup, so his hopes in this fight pretty much depend on his ability to get Henderson down and control him on the ground. Not an easy task, to put it mildly.
Henderson doesn’t need much introduction, as he has been a top figure at both Middleweight and Light Heavyweight for years. A dominant greco-roman wrestler with a great clinch game and dynamite punching power, Henderson is a threat to finish fights with huge power punches and with powerful ground and pound. His submission defense is decent, but he has been submitted by worse grapplers than Shields so if he decides to take this fight down he is going to need to be careful.
Stylistically, this match heavily favors Henderson. He has vastly superior boxing and the ability to decide whether or not the fight hits the ground. He will rough Shields up in the clinch and Shields is going to have be wary of his power punching. I just don’t think Shields has what it takes to take Henderson down, and in a boxing match he is going to get killed. Henderson by T/KO.
Prediction: Dan Henderson via second round KO.
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