Coming off of back-to-back losses to Georges St-Pierre and Jake Ellenberger, Saturday’s fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama could have been argued as perhaps the most important, must-win fight of Jake Shields‘ professional career.
The former Strikeforce middleweight champion had fought and defeated legends such as Dan Henderson in the past, but the pressure that was relieved when his hand was raised at UFC 144 was tremendous.
“I’ve felt pressure before like against GSP in fighting for the title. But this pressure was not a good pressure,” Shields told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani in a post-fight interview. “I was sick to my stomach this morning, coming off of two losses. If I had lost this, I might’ve been cut from the UFC and I’m 33 years old, I don’t want to be out there in the minor leagues trying to work my way back up.”
Though he was critical of his own performance, noting a few changes that he needs to make going forward, Shields did perform well enough against the new face at 170 pounds, Akiyama. Not only that, but Shields felt some love from the fans in Japan despite the fact that he was going up against one of the most popular fighters from the country.
“This crowd felt like a U.S. crowd. They were enthusiastic, cheering. They were even cheering for me!” Shields smiled. “It was like even between me and Akiyama. That was really cool.”
The former Strikeforce champ had to fight through some adversity during the fight including when Akiyama grabbed the fence twice in the fight to avoid takedowns. Typically this kind of foul would be accompanied by a point deduction, which could have potentially played a big factor in the final decision, but that did not happen in the fight.
“It sucks, but I’m not going to hold grudges against it. Sometimes you do things in the cage and you’re not really thinking about it.”
Shields did admit, however, that he was concerned going into the fight about a history of cheating scandals that Akiyama had been involved in earlier in his career when it came to fighting in Japan.
“I told the commission, hey, check this guy’s skin,” Shields said.
Akiyama has been accused of “greasing” in the past, a form of cheating which involved oiling a fighter’s skin up to make it tougher for an opponent to grab onto and thus much more difficult for the opponent to control the fight.
“But lately, hey, he’s older, he’s more honorable. He hasn’t cheated in years. I don’t want to knock the guy, but he’s been accused of cheating four of five times in the past out here.”
Shields did praise his opponent, however, adding that he hopes this isn’t the last time we’ve seen him in the Octagon.
“He was even tougher to take down than I expected,” the Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu team member said. “I hope the UFC gives him another chance. I think he’s a legit contender at 170. The guy is strong, he’s got heavy hands, he’s fast. He gassed a little bit, but I think he’s in better shape at that weight and I would like to see him fight again.”
For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com