(That’ll teach Antonio Banuelos to try and fingerbang Ronda Rousey.)
After compiling a 2-2 octagon record at welterweight (well, 1-3 depending on how you personally scored the Martin Kampmann fight), it looks like former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields will be returning to 185 this summer, and will be taking on the resurgent Ed Herman at UFC 150, which goes down on August 11th from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. UFC President Dana White was the first to break the news, via his Twitter:
UFC 150 Sat Aug 11 Denver, CO Middleweight Bout Ed Herman VS Jake Shields. I like that fight!
Shields is coming off a unanimous decision victory over the struggling Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 144 in February. Although he was able to walk away with the victory and snap a two-fight losing streak in the process, he did find himself on the wrong end of more than one fantastic Judo throw. So you tell us who the real winner was…
…still Shields? Fine, let’s move on.
TUF 3 runner-up Ed Herman, on the other hand, has looked pretty spectacular as of late, and will be looking to build upon a current three-fight win streak that includes wins over scrappy TUF 7 veteran Tim Credeur and TUF 11 alum Kyle Noke. Is it just us, or does it seem like nearly everyone in the UFC can be tied back to The Ultimate Fighter at some point in their career? It’s like the Kevin Bacon of MMA these days. Anyway, Shields should be a considerable favorite coming into this one, but given Herman’s growing trajectory, as well as Shields’ rather mediocre performances in the octagon thus far, “Short Fuse” could be a solid pick for you gamblers, who should already be rolling in the green if you followed our advice.
And in other fight booking, or rather, fight shuffling news…
Those of you hoping to see Michael Bisping and Tim Boetsch throw down at UFC 148 are in for some shitty news, because MMAWeekly reported last night that the middleweight showdown between “The Count” and “The Barbarian” has been moved from UFC 148 to the UFC 149: Clusterfuck event which goes down in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 21st. The reasoning for this shuffle has yet to be revealed, but we’ll let you know if any specific details arise.
And in incredibly vague fight booking news, it’s looking like the rumors that Jon Jones could be defending his belt yet again at UFC 149 against Dan Henderson are all but a complete fabrication at this point, as Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa, told MMAFighting that Jones would not be participating on the Calgary card, stating, “It’s just probably a little too soon. There’s been no timetable yet but July probably isn’t going to happen.” It is now rumored that an August or September return is likely for “Bones,” who has been an absolute workhorse this past year, knocking off four consecutive former champions (three of them by way of stoppage) in just over 11 months.
So who do you like for Shields’ return to middleweight, Potato Nation?
-J. Jones