Tag: Jake Shields

UFC Fantasy Matchmaker December 2013 Edition

There is an art to matchmaking in combat sports.
While some fights come together with natural ease, most bouts are formed through a hectic process of evaluation. Several aspects need to be graded on each side of the table before committing to the match…

There is an art to matchmaking in combat sports.

While some fights come together with natural ease, most bouts are formed through a hectic process of evaluation. Several aspects need to be graded on each side of the table before committing to the matchup.

Whether or not a fight makes sense in the divisional scheme, timing and making sure both fighters stand to gain similar rewards are the most pressing issues that come to mind. Then, of course, there is the most important aspect of a potential fight: Will both competitors be willing to mix it up and put on a show?

The unfortunate part of the process comes when all of these criteria are met and the fight fails to deliver. That said, the UFC showcases far more exciting tilts than flat fights these days, which goes to show just how good Joe Silva and Sean Shelby are at their jobs.

After an injury-riddled 2012 campaign, the UFC has enjoyed one of their most action-packed years to date in 2013. That said, the promotion has touted a hefty schedule of anywhere from 40-50 events in the coming year that will certainly keep their roster active. Granted, UFC President Dana White has revealed a handful of those shows will be international events built around the host country’s audience. 

Whatever those fights turn out to be, any way the situation is chopped up, there is going to be a swarm of fights for fans to jump in the new year. This column is a monthly offering meant to make the matchmaker job a little easier, as it highlights a handful of scraps that would fit all the necessary criteria. 

With the welterweight division crazier than ever, it should come as no surprise two of the group will come from the 170-pound weight class. Let’s get to the fantasy matchmaking. 

 

Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia

The welterweight title picture is on pause for the moment until champion Georges St-Pierre figures out if he’s going to retire or rematch Johny Hendricks. That said, with the depth of elite talent at 170-pounds, the race for title contention isn’t going to stop and both Rory MacDonald and Demian Maia are looking to get back into the hunt.

The Brazilian grappling ace had been red-hot since dropping down from middleweight, as the 36-year-old picked up three consecutive victories over solid talent. That momentum came to a halt in his most recent showing as he was edged out via split-decision by former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields at Fight Night 29 back in October.

While the loss certainly cooled off his run toward a championship opportunity, Maia has been vocal about wanting to get back into the mix as soon as possible and has asked to face recently stunted contender Rory MacDonald.

The 24-year-old Canadian was also handed a setback in his most recent showing, as Robbie Lawler picked up the split-decision victory in their tilt at UFC 167. The loss was his first since 2010 and broke up a five-fight winning streak. During an appearance on the MMA Hour, the Tri-Star product told Ariel Helwani he needed the loss to re-ignite his fire and wanted a quick turnaround.

With both fighters hovering at a similar place in the division, a matchup between the two would make great sense in addition to being an interesting stylistic affair. Both need to get back into the chase as quickly as possible or risk being left behind by the pack.

 

Jake Shields vs. Hector Lombard

With the incredible depth of the welterweight division, losing scope of the bigger picture can be easy to do. While there are currently a handful of fighters who seem to be in the thick of things at 170, there are several others who probably should be there, but just haven’t gotten over the hump in some form or fashion.

By most accounts, Jake Shields and Hector Lombard are two of the most talented fighters in the division, but neither is knocking on the door of a title opportunity. Shields has won back-to-back fights since dropping down from the middleweight division and has put his career back on track after a small rough patch. The California native has collected victories over Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia respectively, with both wins coming by way of split decision.

Despite him edging out top level competition, there is a lack of heat surrounding the former Strikeforce champion, and a bout against Hector Lombard could go a long way to bring his title hopes to life.

Much like the Cesar Gracie fighter, Lombard moved down to welterweight after he failed to make substantial gains as a middleweight. UFC President Dana White urged the former Bellator champion to move down a weight class, and the immediate results were impressive. The former Olympic judoka snuffed out former contender Nate Marquardt in the first round of their tilt at UFC 166 in October and sent a strong message to his new weight class in the process.

While Shields has two wins to Lombard’s one, a matchup between these two former champions would serve a similar purpose for both and could solidify the winner a spot on the title radar.

 

Nate Diaz vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Nate Diaz is back in a big way my friends. The younger half of Stockton’s finest MMA combo is coming fresh off a performance where he salted former title challenger Gray Maynard. The two met for the third time this past weekend, with Diaz putting a definitive stamp on their trilogy.

While the victory over Maynard will certainly put him back into the hunt for the lightweight crown, it won’t get the Cesar Gracie-trained fighter anywhere near the targets he’s been verbally jabbing at in Josh Thomson and Anthony Pettis. “The Punk” scored a stoppage victory over Diaz when the squared off at UFC on Fox 7 back in April, and the Duke Roufus-trained champion is out for a good stretch with a knee injury.

The situation will keep Diaz moving if he’s hoping to get within striking distance of a title shot and Khabib Nurmagomedov is the perfect matchup for the former contender.

The 25-year-old Dagestani has been on fire since joining the UFC in 2012. “The Eagle” has found victory in all five of his showings, with his most recent win coming in impressive fashion over gritty veteran Pat “Bam Bam” Healy at UFC 165 in September.

Following his win over Thiago Tavares at UFC on FX 7 back in January, the talented young Russian called out Diaz in a series of interviews and over social media. He also called out legend B.J. Penn because he understands it is going to take a win over a big name to catapult him to the front of the line in a stacked up lightweight division. While a win over Diaz wouldn’t automatically produce a title opportunity, it would put him in a different tier than he is currently sitting.

Plus…with the language barrier and the posturing, for some odd reason I have the feeling a Diaz versus Nurmagomedov bout would be fireworks from the weigh-ins staredown to when the cage door closes on the Octagon. 

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Erick Silva Says He Has ‘Bad Ground Game’ and Calls out Demian Maia

UFC welterweight Erick Silva is coming off a rough knockout loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 29 earlier this month, but that doesn’t mean he wants a cakewalk in his next Octagon outing. 
Silva, who is 3-3 under the UFC banner, tweeted a ra…

UFC welterweight Erick Silva is coming off a rough knockout loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 29 earlier this month, but that doesn’t mean he wants a cakewalk in his next Octagon outing. 

Silva, who is 3-3 under the UFC banner, tweeted a rather interesting challenge to top-ranked welterweight Demian Maia.

Of course that tweet isn’t in English, so here is MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz to provide us all with a translation.

At one time considered one of the top young prospects on the UFC roster, the Silva hype train seemingly came to a screeching halt when he lost to Kim in front of his Brazilian countrymen. 

Nevertheless, the 29-year-old is trying to goad Maia into a fight by underselling his ground game: the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has won nine of his 15 professional fights by way of submission. 

Still, he would be ill-advised to get in a grappling match with Maia, a multiple-time BJJ champion who is regarded as one of the most skilled black belts in the world. 

A former middleweight title challenger, Maia appeared to have reinvented himself at 170 pounds, rattling off three decisive wins between July 2012 and Jon Fitch. 

However, the Sao Paulo native’s immediate title hopes were cut short by a close split decision loss to Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night 30. 

While it seems like a stretch from a rankings standpoint, would a Maia vs. Silva matchup draw enough fan interest for the UFC to book the fight? 

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

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Amazingly, Every Fighter at ‘UFC Fight Night 29? Managed to Pass His Drug Test


(In retrospect, maybe these guys could have *used* a little steroids. / Photo via Getty)

On the main card alone, last week’s UFC Fight Night 29 event featured a guy who previously pissed dirty for steroids (Joey Beltran), a fake-urine submitting pot smoker (Thiago Silva), one of the UFC’s many “elevated testosterone” violators (Rousimar Palhares), and a guy who failed a drug test for undisclosed reasons, so we’re just going to assume it was weed (Jake Shields). We’ve been waiting for the card’s drug test results with baited breath, and to our surprise, it looks like everybody’s in the clear. As MMAFighting reports:

“All 20 UFC Fight Night 29 fighters passed their drug tests. Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) tested every fighter before their bouts on Oct. 9 in Barueri, Brazil. After the bouts, the headliners – Demian Maia and Jake Shields – were tested again, in addition to four other randomly selected fighters…all results came back negative.”

This is especially good news for Thiago Silva, who has had two of his last four UFC wins knocked down to no-contests, and is now riding his first legitimate win streak since 2007-2008. Of course, Silva missed weight by three pounds for his UFC Fight Night 29 bout against Matt Hamill, so I guess we should put an asterisk next to that win as well, but still, it’s progress.


(In retrospect, maybe these guys could have *used* a little steroids. / Photo via Getty)

On the main card alone, last week’s UFC Fight Night 29 event featured a guy who previously pissed dirty for steroids (Joey Beltran), a fake-urine submitting pot smoker (Thiago Silva), one of the UFC’s many “elevated testosterone” violators (Rousimar Palhares), and a guy who failed a drug test for undisclosed reasons, so we’re just going to assume it was weed (Jake Shields). We’ve been waiting for the card’s drug test results with baited breath, and to our surprise, it looks like everybody’s in the clear. As MMAFighting reports:

“All 20 UFC Fight Night 29 fighters passed their drug tests. Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) tested every fighter before their bouts on Oct. 9 in Barueri, Brazil. After the bouts, the headliners – Demian Maia and Jake Shields – were tested again, in addition to four other randomly selected fighters…all results came back negative.”

This is especially good news for Thiago Silva, who has had two of his last four UFC wins knocked down to no-contests, and is now riding his first legitimate win streak since 2007-2008. Of course, Silva missed weight by three pounds for his UFC Fight Night 29 bout against Matt Hamill, so I guess we should put an asterisk next to that win as well, but still, it’s progress.

UFC Fight Night 29 Results: Jake Shields Wants GSP, Condit or MacDonald Next

Following a huge win over surging welterweight contender Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 29 on Wednesday night, grappling ace Jake Shields has his eye on the big dogs of the UFC’s 170-pound division. 
The Cesar Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt…

Following a huge win over surging welterweight contender Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 29 on Wednesday night, grappling ace Jake Shields has his eye on the big dogs of the UFC’s 170-pound division. 

The Cesar Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt called out three of the top five competitors in his weight class at the post-fight media conference, even asking for a rematch with champion Georges St-Pierre, per MMA Mania. 

I think (the win over Maia) puts me really high back up. Maia was ranked number four in the world (and was on) a four-fight win streak. I already have wins over Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler, top contenders. So I want another shot at GSP … Whether I have to fight Rory MacDonald, Carlos Condit, any of the top contenders, I just want to fight people at the top right now.

While most pundits gave Shields no chance against Maia, a fourth-degree black belt in BJJ, the American fighter’s underrated sweeps and well-documented top control made the difference in the close fight. 

The 34-year-old Tennessee native, who defeated Top 10 welterweights Condit and Lawler in 2006 and 2009, respectively, is now 3-0(1) in his four bouts since losing back-to-back fights to GSP and Jake Ellenberger in 2011. 

As Shields pointed out, Maia entered UFC Fight Night 29 as the No. 4 welterweight in the world. 

According to the UFC’s official rankings, Condit sits at No. 2, while MacDonald is right behind him at No. 3. 

Given that Shields’ unanimous-decision loss to St-Pierre at UFC 129 was a lackluster affair, immediately throwing him into a title bout seems next to impossible. 

Condit and MacDonald are also booked, though. “The Natural Born Killer” faces off with Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 9 in December, while “Ares” takes on Lawler at UFC 167 next month. 

The best-case scenario for Shields would be if Johny Hendricks upsets St-Pierre and becomes the new welterweight champ at UFC 167 on November 16. 

Regardless of what happens in these pivotal welterweight bouts, it seems inevitable that Shields, a former Strikeforce middleweight champ, will crack the 170-pound division’s Top 10 following his win over Maia.

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

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UFC Fight Night 29 Aftermath: Shields Edges Out Maia, Palhares and Kim Score Brutal Victories



(Kim vs. Silva: The moment of impact, and the aftermath. / Photos via Getty)

I wouldn’t call yesterday’s UFC Fight Night event a great card, necessarily — the headlining bout was predictably slow, and the main card broadcast dragged in the middle thanks to the light-heavyweights. Still, there were enough violent, surprising, and awful moments at UFC Fight Night 29 to make it worth discussing. So let’s talk about the interesting stuff first, and work our way down to the crap.

Rousimar Palhares may look a little different at welterweight*, but his gameplan hasn’t changed one iota. From the opening bell, Palhares aggressively dove for the legs of Mike Pierce, in an attempt to sink one of his infamous leg-locks. It worked…maybe a little too well. In just 31 seconds, an agonized Mike Pierce was tapping from a heel-hook. As is custom in MMA, the winning fighter is supposed to release his grip and jump up on the cage to do some flexing. But not Rousimar. As he’s done so many times before, Palhares continued to hold the submission for a moment after the referee intervened — which must have seemed like an eternity to poor Mike Pierce.

Rousimar’s heel-hook was the only submission on the card, and would be worthy of a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus even if there were other subs to compete with. Instead, the UFC decided to withhold the SOTN bonus due to Palhares’s “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and UFC President Dana White claimed that Palhares would receive an additional punishment for his actions. Palhares previously received a 90-day slap on the wrist** for holding a heel-hook against Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111. Maybe the next punishment will be severe enough for him to actually pay attention.

* By the way, when Palhares showed up in the cage, he almost looked like the old Palhares again. Ah, the miracle of rehydration.

** Allegedly.



(Kim vs. Silva: The moment of impact, and the aftermath. / Photos via Getty)

I wouldn’t call yesterday’s UFC Fight Night event a great card, necessarily — the headlining bout was predictably slow, and the main card broadcast dragged in the middle thanks to the light-heavyweights. Still, there were enough violent, surprising, and awful moments at UFC Fight Night 29 to make it worth discussing. So let’s talk about the interesting stuff first, and work our way down to the crap.

Rousimar Palhares may look a little different at welterweight*, but his gameplan hasn’t changed one iota. From the opening bell, Palhares aggressively dove for the legs of Mike Pierce, in an attempt to sink one of his infamous leg-locks. It worked…maybe a little too well. In just 31 seconds, an agonized Mike Pierce was tapping from a heel-hook. As is custom in MMA, the winning fighter is supposed to release his grip and jump up on the cage to do some flexing. But not Rousimar. As he’s done so many times before, Palhares continued to hold the submission for a moment after the referee intervened — which must have seemed like an eternity to poor Mike Pierce.

Rousimar’s heel-hook was the only submission on the card, and would be worthy of a $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus even if there were other subs to compete with. Instead, the UFC decided to withhold the SOTN bonus due to Palhares’s “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and UFC President Dana White claimed that Palhares would receive an additional punishment for his actions. Palhares previously received a 90-day slap on the wrist** for holding a heel-hook against Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111. Maybe the next punishment will be severe enough for him to actually pay attention.

* By the way, when Palhares showed up in the cage, he almost looked like the old Palhares again. Ah, the miracle of rehydration.

** Allegedly.

While Palhares’s victory was the most savage stoppage on the card, it certainly wasn’t the most surprising. That honor goes to Dong Hyun Kim, who was getting soundly lit up by Erick Silva until Kim ended the fight with a blazing overhand left in round two. Of course, this fight wasn’t without controversy either. Earlier in the round, Kim blatantly grabbed the fence to avoid being taken to the mat by Silva. The ref warned him about it — but didn’t pause the action or deduct a point — and the next thing you know, DHK uncorked a one-hitter quitter. Basically, it was the greatest use of an illegal fence grab since Jose Aldo did the exact same thing against Chad Mendes at UFC 142. All together, now…”YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHEAT IN AN MMA FIGHT.” Kim is now on a three-fight win streak in the welterweight division, and earned the first Knockout of the Night bonus of his UFC career.

So let’s talk about those light-heavyweights, huh? Thiago Silva managed to save his job by beating Matt Hamill via decision, but it wasn’t pretty. Hamill started aggressively (as he often does), before fading later in the fight (as he often does). To a large extent, you can credit that to Silva’s relentless leg kicks, which jolted Hamill around the cage and stole much of his mobility. By the end of round three, Hamill was just looking to be put out of his misery. Every leg kick from Silva had him stumbling around in a circle, and Hamill was too exhausted to even stay upright, leaning over at the waist several times with his head completely exposed to further abuse. Silva landed strikes at will, but couldn’t find the strength to deliver a merciful death-blow, which suggested that Silva might have been pretty gassed himself. When the final bell sounded, Thiago Silva had staved off the reaper of unemployment, and Hamill proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he should have stayed retired.

Speaking of fighters who faded deep into the fight, Raphael Assuncao and T.J. Dillashaw earned UFC Fight Night 29′s Fight of the Night bonuses, despite the fact that the third round was eerily quiet, with both fighters (but especially Dillashaw) seemingly losing interest in attacking. Dillashaw started off as the aggressor both on the feet and on the mat, and managed to take the Brazilian’s back for a portion of the round. But Assuncao shifted the momentum in the second frame, landing more of his shots and bloodying the face of Dillashaw.

Just when Dillashaw should have picked up the pace in the decisive final round, he took his foot off the gas, steadily walking toward Assuncao but not really doing anything productive. Outside of a few counter-punches, Assuncao seemed to be cool with riding the clock out as well, which he did en route to a split-decision win. The crowd booed the lack of activity during round three, and yet this was officially the best fight on the card. Hmm. Personally, I would have given that honor to Kim vs. Silva — who doesn’t love a comeback knockout? — but maybe the UFC wanted to spread the bonus money around a little more.

Jake Shields‘s split-decision win over Demian Maia was impressive in theory, but not particularly fun to watch. We have to give Shields props for going into enemy territory and out-grappling a grappler who was supposed to be better than him. And he absolutely did that, securing more dominant positions against Maia and abusing the Brazilian with punches and elbows from the top whenever the opportunities presented themselves. The question is, will a methodical 25-minute ground battle do anything to raise Jake’s stock in the welterweight division? Short answer: Hell no. There are too many exciting contenders currently clogging up the top of the 170-pound ladder, and once again, Shields proved that his fights are not required viewing. Seven bouts into his UFC career, he’s still looking for his first stoppage victory, and he’s never been worthy of a Fight of the Night bonus. Being a great fighter means nothing if the fans and the promotion don’t care.

As for Fabio Maldonado vs. Joey Beltran…ugh, what can you say, really? Some ugly brawls are fun to watch, some are just ugly. Maldonado proved that even in victory, he can’t avoid getting his face torn to shit, and that he’ll make it a close fight even when he doesn’t have to. Beltran proved that he might not even be a Bellator-caliber fighter, although we’ll leave that to Viacom to decide.

— Ben Goldstein

Full UFC Fight Night 29 results 

Main Card
Jake Shields def. Demian Maia via split decision (48-47 x 2, 47-48)
Dong Hyun Kim def. Erick Silva via KO, 3:01 of round 2
Thiago Silva def. Mat Hamill via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Fabio Maldonado def. Joey Beltran via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Rousimar Palhares def. Mike Pierce via submission (heel hook), 0:31 of round 1
Raphael Assuncao def. T.J. Dillashaw via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)

Preliminary Card
Igor Araujo def. Ildemar Alcantara via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Yan Cabral def. David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Chris Cariaso def. Iliarde Santos via TKO, 4:31 of round 2
Alan Patrick def. Garett Whiteley via TKO, 3:54 of round 1

UFC Fight Night 29 Results: What Does the Win Mean for Jake Shields?

Jake Shields nabbed his second straight split-decision victory at UFC Fight Night 29. It was not the prettiest win, but what Shields fight is?
The veteran stepped up and took down Demian Maia, the No. 4-ranked welterweight in the division.
The question…

Jake Shields nabbed his second straight split-decision victory at UFC Fight Night 29. It was not the prettiest win, but what Shields fight is?

The veteran stepped up and took down Demian Maia, the No. 4-ranked welterweight in the division.

The question now is, what’s next?

Shields’ performances sent him into the middle of the pack after losing back-to-back fights against Georges St-Pierre and Jake Ellenberger. He moved back to middleweight for two fights, but decided to move back to 170 in June 2013.

There is no question that exciting fighters move up the ranks more quickly and garner more fan support, but there can be no denying Shields’ record. The aforementioned two losses were the only losses in the past eight years for Shields, and his level of competition has been higher than most.

Who has he beaten in that span? Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Mike Pyle, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Dan Henderson and Martin Kampmann. There are several other tough, crafty veterans on that list as well. Shields has earned another premier bout for his next fight.

With a win over Maia, Sheilds will jump back in to the Top 10.

However, most of the division’s elite are already booked. Shields may have to wait for the UFC 167 fallout before getting his next opponent. It could be a blessing in disguise.

Depending on how the title picture shakes out in November, Shields could slip into a key fight in the division.

The fight with Maia showed just that.

Maia tore through the division. He out-grappled the likes of Rick Story and Jon Fitch as he went up the welterweight ladder. He was not able to do the same to Shields. It was the American who often found top position throughout the fight, and he also reversed position several times.

It was a grind for 25 minutes. A grind that Shields won.

His habit of dragging opponents into an ugly fight is not endearing, but it shows Shields’ ability to mask his deficiencies. If he can win another fight against an upper-echelon fighter, Shields will be right back in the title mix.

He’s earned that right.

Shields may not be the most exciting fighter in the division. He may not even be the most technically skilled.

Yet he wins. A lot.

That counts in the long run. He is without question one of the top 10 welterweights in the world, and he deserves a fight against another ranked opponent.

Shields may be one of the most underrated fighters in MMA history. His record speaks for itself, and the win over Maia meant a lot for his lasting legacy. It was just another elite fighter on Shields’ long resume.

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