Tag: Jake Shields

Old Spice, Chevy, and Six More Corporate Sponsors That Should Tap Into MMA


(“Nothing comes between me and my Baconator. Nothing.”)

By Jason Moles

In the ever-competitive world of professional mixed martial arts, the men and women are fighting for more than just the fans and their next paycheck; they’re fighting for survival. When you barely have enough money left for yourself after paying your training partners, coaches, and buying nutritional supplements, it’s time to find another source of income. Most do this in the way of sponsorships — you know, like the Nike deal Jon Jones recently signed, or Anderson Silva’s relationship with Burger King. And if more of these well-known mainstream companies would sponsor a few fighters, the smaller companies that currently sponsor fighters could move to guys and gals who are still making their way up the ranks without anyone losing out. Let’s look at the companies that best suit MMA, how they should be involved, and why it makes sense.

Company: Old Spice
Ideal fighter to sponsor: Cheick Kongo, Alistair Overeem

Why it makes sense: Standing 6′ 4″ and weighing 230 pounds, and 6′ 5″/263, respectively, the Frenchman and the Dutchman are the most physically imposing fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Old Spice is known for their funny commercials targeting the same audience watching PPV’s on a Saturday night. In the past, Old Spice has used NFL players Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis as spokesman for their ‘Swagger’ line of men’s body products, as well as jacked Expendables cast-member Terry Crews. And if those guys can do it, why not Kongo and Overeem? In particular, “The Demolition Man” is the type of guy you want your customers to think they’ll be more like by using your product. Alistair could even make his commercial debut by eating the horse the original Old Spice Guy rode in on.


(“Nothing comes between me and my Baconator. Nothing.”)

By Jason Moles

In the ever-competitive world of professional mixed martial arts, the men and women are fighting for more than just the fans and their next paycheck; they’re fighting for survival. When you barely have enough money left for yourself after paying your training partners, coaches, and buying nutritional supplements, it’s time to find another source of income. Most do this in the way of sponsorships — you know, like the Nike deal Jon Jones recently signed, or Anderson Silva’s relationship with Burger King. And if more of these well-known mainstream companies would sponsor a few fighters, the smaller companies that currently sponsor fighters could move to guys and gals who are still making their way up the ranks without anyone losing out. Let’s look at the companies that best suit MMA, how they should be involved, and why it makes sense.

Company: Old Spice
Ideal fighter to sponsor: Cheick Kongo, Alistair Overeem

Why it makes sense: Standing 6′ 4″ and weighing 230 pounds, and 6′ 5″/263, respectively, the Frenchman and the Dutchman are the most physically imposing fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Old Spice is known for their funny commercials targeting the same audience watching PPV’s on a Saturday night. In the past, Old Spice has used NFL players Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis as spokesman for their ‘Swagger’ line of men’s body products, as well as jacked Expendables cast-member Terry Crews. And if those guys can do it, why not Kongo and Overeem? In particular, “The Demolition Man” is the type of guy you want your customers to think they’ll be more like by using your product. Alistair could even make his commercial debut by eating the horse the original Old Spice Guy rode in on.

Company: Chevrolet
Ideal fighters to sponsor: Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson

Why it makes sense: The 2013 Chevy Spark may be small, but what it lacks in stature, it more than makes up for in heart. The potential to save drivers a small fortune on gas is enough to get most excited, and the 18-34 male demographic includes cash-strapped college guys and new dads — definitely a bunch a dudes looking to save a few extra bucks any chance they can get. Who better to market your product than your Ultimate Fighting counterparts, the UFC’s two smallest and most fuel-efficient contenders?

Both the fighters and the mini-cars are well equipped, fast, and flashy. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the unbelievably high MPG, which means you won’t ever have to worry about running out of gas when you enter the championship rounds. Isn’t it obvious that this is a match made in mini-heaven?

Company: Lunesta
Ideal fighters to sponsor: Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, Ben Askren

Why it makes sense: From Lunesta’s website: “When you want to sleep, do you lie awake? When you get to sleep, do you wake up often during the night? Sleep is here on the wings of LUNESTA. Some sleep aids are approved to help you fall asleep and others to help you stay asleep. Prescription LUNESTA is approved to do both.”

4 out of 5 doctors recommend you watch a fight featuring Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, or Ben Askren, if you do not wish to use or cannot afford prescription medication. It’s a known fact; these boring wrestlers will put you to sleep before they even break a sweat. While most fans spew vitriol every time these fighters are mentioned, a large percentage of the audience is insomniacs and singing their praises. MMA managers these days tell their guys in the gym to make themselves into a brand. It just so happens that the brands these guys have created have the same tags as Lunesta: sleep, helps me sleep, cures insomnia, best sleep I’ve ever had.

Company: Tampax
Ideal fighter to sponsor: Ronda Rousey

Why it makes sense: Hear me out. Back in 2009, Tampax signed Serena Williams of tennis fame to an endorsement deal during their “Outsmart Mother Nature” campaign. The commercial was clever and effective. After watching it, you believed that one of the best female tennis players to ever step onto a court could go on with life as usual, despite her monthly visitor, with no major adjustments to her schedule. Skip ahead to present day where Strikeforce Women’s champion Ronda Rousey graces the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, appears on Conan O’Brian, and has a two-part all-access pass look at her life filmed by Showtime. Sounds like Tampax has a fresh face with enough exposure to take home a larger share of the feminine hygiene products sales. Rousey is the perfect example of a woman that demands a lot out of her girlie products. Training for a championship bout consists of running, strength training, kickboxing, and most of all, jiu jitsu — and all of the rolling around that comes with it. Just like there’s no crying in baseball, there are no time outs for leaks. Not to worry, she has Tampax in her corner.

I envision some poor soul getting a text from his girl while he’s out getting snacks for fight night. She asks him to do the unthinkable — pick up some tampons and hurry back. So he makes his way to the pink aisle and scans a ton of pink boxes that may have been written in gibberish. He wants to make this as quick as possible so there’s no time to ask his damsel in distress what kind she wants. He’ll just have to figure this out on his own. *Boom!* “Yep, these are the ones Ronda Rousey uses, so they must be good.” he says to himself. Brand association is a powerful tool — one that makes a deal like this all but certain in the years to come.

On the next page: Listerine, UPS, and the return of Jimmy John’s…

UFC: Is Switching Weight Classes Really the Answer for Struggling Fighters?

Tim Boetsch made his UFC debut in early 2008 as a member of the light-heavyweight roster. After an unimpressive 2-2 run, The Barbarian was released from his contract and sent back to the independent leagues.In the summer of 2010, Boetsch received an in…

Tim Boetsch made his UFC debut in early 2008 as a member of the light-heavyweight roster. After an unimpressive 2-2 run, The Barbarian was released from his contract and sent back to the independent leagues.

In the summer of 2010, Boetsch received an invitation to rejoin the company. Not faring much better the second time around, the NCAA wrestler won his return contest, but was shut down by Phil Davis in his sophomore effort.

In six UFC contests, he was unable to put together a pair of consecutive wins and prove that his contract was deserved. Where could Boetsch go from here? 

After consulting with his coaches, Boetsch decided that a run at middleweight could be in his best interests, and boy, was he right.

Compiling a flawless 4-0 record since making the move, Boetsch has bested Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove, previously undefeated Nick Ring and world-ranked competitors Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard. These days, the Barbarian is the No. 6 ranked middleweight in the world.

Likewise, Brian Stann is another fighter who had a less-than-stellar run in the UFC light-heavyweight division, but has breathed new life into his career by cutting weight. Other fighters who have dropped in weight in hopes of getting a fresh start include Urijah Faber, Martin Kampmann, Mike Swick and Demian Maia.

The wrestling mentality is that a fighter should be competing at the lowest weight that his body will allow him to compete. With incredible advances in the science of weight cutting, fighters are able to compete in divisions as much as 50 pounds lower than their walking weight.

However, just because you can get yourself to a particular weight does not mean that it’s the best place for you to compete. Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian and James Irvin have all worked their way down to a division in which their bodies were drained.

Were they competing against smaller competitors? Absolutely. But were they doing their best? Not a chance.

Irvin came into his middleweight debut badly dehydrated and resembled Skellator. Clearly, the former light-heavyweight did not have the energy to compete and he was quickly stopped in the first round by gatekeeper Alessio Sakara.

Sapping your body of fluids is riskier than simply coming in at less than 100 percent. Dr. Johnny “The Fight Doc” Benjamin has talked about the long term dangers of weight cutting.

“Weight cutting has been harshly regulated in wrestling, but it hasn’t been in the UFC. There are some very serious health concerns with weight cutting. The one everyone thinks about is kidney damage or kidney failure. Some people think it’s not a big deal, but go to a dialysis centre and spend an hour there and watch people get every drop of blood taken out of their bodies and ask them how it is to do that three times a week just to live. The other thing people don’t think about is your brain is at risk because water makes up 97 percent of the cerebral spinal fluid, the fluid around the brain that cushions it from blows. So anytime you lose mass amounts of water, you lose cushioning around the brain, and now you ask Vitor Belfort to punch you in the face—it’s a bad combination. “

Conversely, fighters like Rich Franklin, Jake Shields and Randy Couture have packed on additional pounds in hopes of improving their roster spot after failed attempts to capture (or recapture) a championship in their natural weight class. 

Chael Sonnen is considering a move to light-heavyweight after a pair of failed bids to capture the middleweight championship from Anderson Silva. Former champion Rich Franklin made the same move nearly four years ago.

Randy Couture jumped up to heavyweight in 2007 when he recognized that the division was weak enough for a smaller-statured athlete like himself to utilize superior technique in order to negate a size disadvantage. That being said, each division has a collection of legitimate contenders, and a move of this magnitude is unlikely in the competitive climate of today’s MMA.

In terms of packing on weight, sometimes it is necessary. As his body continues to grow, Jon Jones will be unable to make the 205 pound limit. The same story goes with champions Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz and their respective divisions.

What does all of this weight switching mean? Is a different division the way to go for someone who is struggling to make a name for themselves? Or is this simply the MMA version of “the grass is always greener?”

As fighters look for a competitive advantage inside the Octagon, you can expect fighters to continue changing divisions. Is it the best solution for a struggling fighter? There is no cut and dry answer. However, so long as fighters like Tim Boetsch and Martin Kampmann continue to find success in lighter divisions, you had better believe that others are going to follow suit.

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UFC 150: Is Jake Shields Anything More Than a Gatekeeper in the UFC?

Jake Shields marked his return to the middleweight division with a win over Ed Herman at UFC 150 on Saturday, in an underwhelming performance which is likely to win him few fans. Over three tortured rounds, Shields secured a unanimous decision in his f…

Jake Shields marked his return to the middleweight division with a win over Ed Herman at UFC 150 on Saturday, in an underwhelming performance which is likely to win him few fans.

Over three tortured rounds, Shields secured a unanimous decision in his favour over Herman, who, bizarrely, decided that wrestling with the master grappler would secure him the win.

This was Shields’ second win in a row after he dropped two bouts in the welterweight division, and comes after he beat former middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama in a similarly tortured three-round decision.

That match was Shields’ last at welterweight and prompted him to move back up to 185—the same weight where he won the Strikeforce title in 2009 before moving to the UFC. But a return to what he believes is a more natural weight class has hardly delivered the fireworks he expected.

Such performances are unlikely to lead him to any title match, especially in a division where Anderson Silva reigns supreme. Instead, they raise questions as to whether Shields can be anything more than a gatekeeper.

The 15-fight winning streak he amassed in his previous incarnation outside the UFC, where he could boast wins over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Dan Henderson, seems a long time ago now.

The win over Henderson, in particular, led to him being imported into the UFC as a possible challenger for George St. Pierre’s title.

But, so far, he has failed to deliver.

His first fight for the promotion against Martin Kampmann was a split decision which could have gone either way. That poor performance was said to be due to Shields’ cut to welterweight, which is now beginning to seem like a poor excuse.

There is no doubt that Shields is a highly talented fighter, and one of the best grapplers in MMA. His fight against GSP, where the Canadian was able to shut down Shields’ grappling with impeccable striking, was, nevertheless, the toughest fight the incumbent champion has had for years.

Shields has looked a genuine title contender at many points in his career, and has demonstrated many times that he has what it takes to hang with the big boys. But his middleweight debut in the UFC last weekend hardly establishes him as anything close to that.

The aftermath of that one fight may be too soon to write him off as a contender completely. We would have to see how he performs against a top middleweight first—such as Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher or even Chris Weidman.

But at 33, the time needed for him to string together enough wins to get him a title shot is running out, and his victory over Herman hardly fills us with confidence that he has what it takes.

 

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UFC 150: Post-Fight Breakdown

Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar The headliner for UFC 150 resulted in yet another controversial decision in a lightweight title fight. This time, Ben Henderson retained the title in a split decision where two judges.

Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar

The headliner for UFC 150 resulted in yet another controversial decision in a lightweight title fight. This time, Ben Henderson retained the title in a split decision where two judges scored the fight 48-47 for Henderson and one score it 49-46 for Edgar. Edgar was upset with the decision after the fight and the internet consensus has Edgar winning the fight. I scored the fight 48-47 for Edgar but I don’t have a problem with the outcome at all and I don’t think saying that Edgar was “robbed” is an accurate assessment as many are claiming.

Henderson clearly won the first round and everyone is in agreement on that. He employed the unique strategy of attacking Edgar’s calf with kicks to slow the contender’s movement and had great success in doing so. Edgar’s calf was swollen and bruised by the end of the round. The former champion came back in the second round and evened up the scoring by knocking Henderson down with a clean right hand and then trying to finish with a front guillotine. The scoring on this round is also not in doubt but starting with the third round, judging became absurdly subjective. The final three rounds were some of the most difficult to score in any recent fight. Both fighters landed at various times but neither landed anything significant. Edgar seemed to be moving forward and bringing the fight to Henderson but compustrike showed that Henderson outlanded Edgar in significant strikes. On the other hand, Edgar won the takedown battle. Add that up and you get a judging nightmare. Boxing has long had an unwritten rule that the champion gets the nod if the fight is too close to score and that may have been what happened in this fight.

Scoring aside, Henderson leaves this fight as the champion and he will fight Nate Diaz next. Diaz has patiently been awaiting his opportunity and he will be rewarded with a title shot as promised. For Edgar, the loss has to be gutting but he is still one of the best fighters in the division. A fight with either Donald Cerrone of Anthony Pettis would make sense and a win against either would likely catapult him right back into top contendership. And of course, an immediate title shot awaits him if he ever decides to drop to featherweight, which he could easily do.

Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard

In the clear fight of the night, Donald Cerrone came back from being hurt early to knockout Melvin Guillard. And the entire fight lasted seventy six seconds. In the opening exchange, Guillard landed a counter left hook to Cerrone’s jaw and dropped him. Guillard rushed forward and flurried for the finish as Cerrone backed up toward to the cage. But Guillard was unable to end the fight and backed up to reset. Almost immediately upon reentering the pocket, Cerrone landed a kick just above Guillard’s temple. As Guillard wobbled, Cerrone rushed in and landed a right hand that turned out Guillard’s lights for at least a minute. If I have ever have seventy six seconds to kill, I’m not sure I could think of a better way to spend it than rewatching this fight.

The loss is a set back for Guillard and his chances of getting back into the title picture seem unlikely at this point. Despite that, he is always one of the most entertaining fighters in the division and because of that, he will always have a place in the UFC. Cerrone has now won six of his seven fights in the UFC with his only loss coming to title contender Nate Diaz. The lightweight division is absurdly stacked but he deserves to be on the fighters at the top of the stack. He, Anthony Pettis and Frankie Edgar seem to be the top three fighters outside of the champion Ben Henderson and Diaz. Hopefully, Cerrone will face either Pettis or Edgar in his next fight and either one of those fights would be guaranteed fireworks.

Jake Shields vs. Ed Herman

Jake Shields impressed no one by grinding out another unimpressive decision over Ed Herman. Herman actually won the first round by pushing Shields against the fence and controlling position. He never threatened the former Strikeforce champion but he did enough to win the round. That strategy came back to bite him in the second round as Shields used the clinch against the cage to score a takedown and controlled Herman from top position for the remainder of the round. He landed no significant strikes and his most threatening attack of the round was a weak kimura attempt. Herman learned from his mistake in the second round and came out looking to keep his distance and strike with Shields in the third round. But Shields managed to close the distance and repeated his performance from the previous round to earn the decision.

Ed Herman is basically the same fighter he’s always been. He has some dangerous submissions but lacks a striking game to support his grappling. Against the right opponent, he can provide exciting fights but he doesn’t present much of a threat at 185 lbs. Shields continues to be a bit of an enigma since coming to the UFC. He defeated Dan Henderson and that can’t be ignored but he also struggled with Ed Herman, which is not the mark of a great fighter. I don’t think the UFC can justify giving him a top tier fighter after that performance but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him matched with Yushin Okami after they both earned victories at UFC 150.

Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts

This fight was a much of a mismatch in the cage as it was on paper. Roberts managed to land a few punches early in the first round but once Okami decided to take the fight to the ground, it was over. Roberts seemed to know that his only chance was to score a knockout and threw wild power shots at Okami through the early part of the first round. He landed a few but Okami was never in danger. Eventually, Okami tired of the striking and clinched with Roberts. From there, he dragged him to the mat and quickly passed to mount. Roberts gave up his back and Okami used the position to ground and pound Roberts who seemed ready to give up before the bell sounded. The second round was similar except that Okami didn’t wait to clinch and drag Roberts to the mat. Instead, he did it early in the round and once again ended up back mounted on Roberts throwing punches. Roberts seemed to accept his fate and covered up waiting for the fight to be stopped, which it was.

Roberts clearly doesn’t have what it takes to compete at the top of the division and is a middling middleweight at best. But Okami needed a fight like this to prove that he is still a dominant fighter. A loss to the best pound for pound fighter in the world followed by a crazy knockout loss in a fight he was dominating don’t mean that Okami is done. He deserves to be competing at the top of the division and should get a contender in his next fight.

Max Holloway vs. Justin Lawrence

UFC 150 started with an excellent striking display by Max Holloway and Justin Lawrence. In the first round, Lawrence landed the majority of the power strikes. He spent the round head hunting in search of the knockout. He managed to land a couple of clean punches but never seemed to have Holloway in major trouble. Despite that, he definitely looked to be the more dangerous fighter. The second round began in similar fashion but Holloway showed why his brand of Muay Thai is the most dangerous standup attack in the sport. Despite Lawrence’s power, Holloway stuck to his technical approach and eventually scored the finish in true Muay Thai fashion. He landed a knee to the liver and followed it closely with a right to the body and a left hook to the liver. Clean punches to the chin aren’t the only way to end a fight and Holloway proved that by decimating Lawrence to the body. The liver shots rendered him unable to do anything other than curl up in a fetal position and Holloway pounced with a flurry to finish the fight. His performance was a tribute to trusting technique over power and should serve as a reminder to the rest of the MMA world as to how effective body work can be with four ounce gloves.

For Lawrence, the loss is a set back but he put on a good enough show to prove that he has a future in the sport. After only five career fights, he will certainly improve going forward and will likely be given a winnable fight in his next appearance. Holloway now has back to back wins and at just twenty years old, seems to have a bright future. If the UFC is smart, they will not rush him into fights against more experienced opponents and allow him to continue to work on his game against other young fighters. He is only in the UFC because he was able to step in as a last minute replacement against Dustin Poirier and he is not yet ready for the upper or even middle levels of the featherweight division. Hopefully, the UFC will be smart and give him another similarly inexperienced prospect in his fight and allow him to continue to grow.

Is Jake Shields a Title Contender at Middleweight?

Now that UFC 150 is in the books and Jake Shields is relaxing with a victory over the always tough Ed Herman under his belt, we as fans and devout followers assess last night’s performances and look to the future. When considering Jake Shields, w…

Now that UFC 150 is in the books and Jake Shields is relaxing with a victory over the always tough Ed Herman under his belt, we as fans and devout followers assess last night’s performances and look to the future.

When considering Jake Shields, who clearly has his sights set on a title fight with Anderson Silva, a dark cloud can be seen gathering on his horizon.

Make no mistake about it: Jake Shields is a true fighter. He’s been a champion in lesser organizations and he’s also defeated some damn fine fighters: Dan Henderson, Martin Kampmann, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami to name a few.

Any division he’s fighting in, he’s aiming to win the belt; that’s just how champions think.

He’s a fantastic grappler who finds a way to win, and he’s shown that when the going gets tough, he’s still in it to win it, and that is a very rare thing.

And none of that would be enough to see him defeat Anderson Silva.

As good as Shields is—and he’s very good—he is still the fighter who was defeated by the jab of Georges St-Pierre, and that does not bode well for him.

Yes, GSP and Anderson Silva are very different champions with vastly different styles. But the fact remains that Shields is not going to be bringing anything to the table that Anderson Silva hasn’t had to contend with yet.

In many ways, a fight between Silva and Shields would be reminiscent of Silva’s fight with Demian Maia as Shields doesn’t possess the long-range takedown skills needed to get Silva down to the mat and he’s light years behind Silva in every area of the striking department.

Could Shields take Silva down and submit him? Of course, it is possible—just highly doubtful. It’s not that his grappling isn’t better than Silva’s once the fight hits the floor; it’s getting the champ down that would be so very hard.

Shields would be the smaller man in the fight, at a reach disadvantage, against the best striker in the sport, and like Maia found out, getting close enough to get the takedown is far easier said than done.

If he thought being on the end of GSP’s jab was bad—and it was clearly bad enough that it ruined his welterweight title aspirations—then he’s going to think being strafed at long range by Silva is a nightmare.

If there’s any good news for him at middleweight, it’s that Silva may very well be retired by the time Shields is in any kind of position for a title shot. If that ends up as the case, then he may very well wear UFC gold.

But until then, should Shields want to take the title from Silva by force, he’s going to find that his reach has exceeded his grasp.

Still, when you’re reaching for the stars, falling short still sees you well above just about everyone else.

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UFC 150 Results: Yushin Okami and Jake Shields Need Better Striking

Jake Shields and Yushin Okami both did what they were supposed to by winning their fights tonight with high-level grappling. Both also showed little to no improvement in a component of fighting that has always been their weak points: striking. Okami go…

Jake Shields and Yushin Okami both did what they were supposed to by winning their fights tonight with high-level grappling.

Both also showed little to no improvement in a component of fighting that has always been their weak points: striking.

Okami got nailed by his opponent’s jab and lead hook many times during the fight. This is particularly concerning since a southpaw fighter is better defended against attacks from the lead hand of an orthodox fighter.

Joe Rogan may have exaggerated how badly Roberts had Okami hurt at times, but it was clear that had the fight stayed on the feet, Okami would have gotten into more trouble.

Shields spent less time striking than Okami did, but it still seemed like he had nothing to offer but his lead roundhouse kick. And since Shields doesn’t have great offensive wrestling, he’s going to end up spending more time on the feet in his next middleweight bouts.

Every fight starts on the feet, and striking is where the fight stays when takedowns fail. Pure grapplers, no matter how brilliantly skilled they are, can not become UFC champions.

They won the fights, yeah, but they looked unimproved

It’s impossible to learn striking overnight, but it’s very important to train it nonetheless. Neither of these guys are going to stand a chance against the best few fighters of the division—let alone Silva—if they can’t get their striking up to par.

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