Tag: Jake Shields

‘Sexyama’ to Make Welterweight Debut in February Against Shields at UFC 144 in Japan


(Will one of these two men find themselves unemployed with a loss against the other?)

The UFC has added a second bout to its return to Japan on February 26 for UFC 144.

According to UFC president Dana White, joining a main event lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson on the card will be a welterweight showdown between former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and Japanese fan favorite Yoshihiro Akiyama, who will be make his 170-lb debut that night.


(Will one of these two men find themselves unemployed with a loss against the other?)

The UFC has added a second bout to its return to Japan on February 26 for UFC 144.

According to UFC president Dana White, joining a main event lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson on the card will be a welterweight showdown between former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and Japanese fan favorite Yoshihiro Akiyama, who will be make his 170-lb debut that night.

0-2 in his last two outings with back-to-back losses to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129 and Jake Ellenberger at UFN 25, Shields will be looking to right the ship by handing “Sexyama” his fourth straight loss in the Octagon and possibly his walking papers in the process.

Akiyama is an unimpressive 1-3 in his four UFC appearances, with a hotly contested split decision win over Alan Belcher in his debut at UFC 100, followed by a trio of losses to Chris Leben, Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort at UFCs 116, 120 and 133, respectively.

UFC 144 will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will also feature Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against a yet-to-be-named opponent.

UFC 144: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields Headed to Japan

Fan favorite Yoshihiro Akiyama will officially be making the drop to the welterweight division come this February.After a long and storied career as a middleweight, where Akiyama has scored memorable victories over the likes of Melvin Manhoef, Denis Ka…

Fan favorite Yoshihiro Akiyama will officially be making the drop to the welterweight division come this February.

After a long and storied career as a middleweight, where Akiyama has scored memorable victories over the likes of Melvin Manhoef, Denis Kang and Alan Belcher, the Judoka finds himself in need of a win, and what better way to motivate yourself than have a clean slate as a welterweight.

Since entering the Octagon in July of 2009, Akiyama has been a part of three “Fight of the Night” performances in his four outings under the Zuffa banner, though he is currently on an 0-3 skid as of late.

After back-and-forth battles against Chris Leben and Michael Bisping, Akiyama fell victim to the brutal punching power of former champion Vitor Belfort, who recorded the knockout victory in less than two minutes in their battle this August.

Now trying to make amends at 170 pounds, the grappling ace will be taking on former Strikeforce champ Jake Shields in a “do or die” battle for both men, as the loser is likely to be served with his walking papers from the UFC with a poor performance.

Shields has also been in dire straits as of late. After making good on his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann, Shields challenged Georges St-Pierre for the title, though the Cesar Gracie black belt dropped a close decision victory to the Canadian, who snapped his previous 15-fight win streak.

After the the contentious battle with St-Pierre, Shields fell victim to “The Juggernaut” Jake Ellenberger, who throttled the submission ace in less than one minute thanks to an onslaught of knees and punches which recorded the knockout victory in 53 seconds.

Looking to remain relevant fixtures in the UFC, both Shields and Akiyama will likely be fighting for their positions within the organization as they do battle at UFC 144, which takes place at the Super Saitama Arena in Japan—where the former HERO’s light heavyweight Grand Prix champion first built his star under the K-1 banner.

Stay tuned to the Bleacher Report for further development. 

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Yoshihiro Akiyama Drops to Welterweight, Faces Jake Shields at UFC 144

Filed under: UFC, NewsYoshihiro Akiyama will make the move down to welterweight to tangle with former divisional No. 1 contender Jake Shields at UFC 144 in Japan.

The UFC confirmed the bout on Monday afternoon.

Akiyama had lost three straight as a mi…

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Yoshihiro Akiyama will make the move down to welterweight to tangle with former divisional No. 1 contender Jake Shields at UFC 144 in Japan.

The UFC confirmed the bout on Monday afternoon.

Akiyama had lost three straight as a middleweight, dropping bouts to Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, and it had been feared that he may be cut from the promotion. Instead, he finds new life as a 170-pounder.

The 36-year-old, who is 13-4 with 2 no contests, will no doubt help sell tickets in his native Japan.

Meanwhile, Shields will be looking to bounce back from his 53-second knockout loss at the hands of Jake Ellenberger in September. The defeat came just two weeks after the passing of his father, Jack.

Shields is 26-6-1 overall.

UFC 144 will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and features a main event of UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar against challenger Ben Henderson.

 

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UFC’s Jake Shields Sheds Light on Signing, Teammates and Return to Action

UFC welterweight Jake Shields (26-6-1) is the latest world-class athlete to take his talents to Florida. This past October, Authentic Sports Management announced the signing of Shields, who joins the likes of former UFC light heavyweight champion Rasha…

UFC welterweight Jake Shields (26-6-1) is the latest world-class athlete to take his talents to Florida.

This past October, Authentic Sports Management announced the signing of Shields, who joins the likes of former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, Kenny Florian, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Danillo Villefort and Melvin Guillard, to name a few who have signed with the premier sports management and marketing company.

While the decision was tough for Shields, joining forces with president Glenn Robinson and Authentic Sports Management provided the American jiu-jitsu black belt the opportunity to move forward with his career and continue his growth as a professional athlete.

“Well, it’s always a tough choice choosing your manager,” Shields recently told BleacherReport.com. “There’s lots of things that factor and for me, it just seemed like they cover everything and it seemed like a good environment. So, everyone got along and they treat you well. They cover all aspects between obviously the fights, the sponsors, the fight contract, as well as helping out with training and PR and anything else. He’s willing to go out and help.”

Shields began his career by going undefeated in 1999 and has since defeated 50 percent of his opponents by submission or knockout.

While his 2011 campaign hasn’t been ideal, the 12-year veteran hopes to find out who his next foe will be in the near future and return to his winning ways.

 “I’m just trying to get back on track, I had a little setback and just trying to bounce back,” Shields said. “Some time to restructure some things and figure out what I’ve done wrong and correct that. So, right now I’m taking it one step at a time and I’m looking for my next opponent. I started training again and (I’ll) go out there and talk to Glenn about who we want to go after and talk to the UFC and hopefully in the next week, I’ll have an opponent set up.”

With Shields’ long-time teammate Nick Diaz recently joining the UFC welterweight roster alongside younger brother Nate Diaz, and UFC President Dana White stating his desire to see Gilbert Melendez inside the Octagon in the near future, the four talented Cesar Gracie fighters are all close to joining forces in the sport’s premier organization.

As for Shields, it’s an exciting time seeing his close friends and teammates achieve success.

“It’s great, I think we’ve all been fighting together for so long and we all pretty much came from absolutely nothing and to see each other rise in different levels. Different guys with different levels of fame throughout the way, but at this point it’s like me, Gil, Nick, and Nate are all hitting a really good point. I’m coming off a loss of course, so that ain’t great, but other than the whole team is.

“I just had a ton of publicity from the GSP (Georges St. Pierre) fight and Nick Diaz is going to be having that same thing fighting GSP, I’m glad he back that. Nate Diaz is in the co-main with “Cowboy” (Donald Cerrone at UFC 141), Gil Melendez fighting for a title, so it’s just great to see all these guys I’ve been fighting with for 10 plus years really at top right now.”

With Shields’ teammates all being scheduled for upcoming fights, he hopes to secure a date in February for his return to action. 

UFC 143 on February 4, alongside teammate Nick Diaz, who challenges welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre would be a perfect fit.

“I haven’t really been thinking about my opponents, I’ve been trying to figure out what weight I’m going to go at. Because cutting that weights big and I’m kind of small for 85, so I’ve been lifting a little bit and seeing how I feel. I don’t have a date, but I was thinking February, that’s up to the UFC, but I was going to throw it out there and tell them I’d like to fight sometime around February and see what they say from there.

“It’d be great to fight the same time as Nick. It makes it easier, we can train together and get ready together. It’s always nice when we fight at the same time.

For additional information, follow Joshua Carey on Twitter.

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MMA Top 10 Welterweights: Nick Diaz Belongs at No. 2

Filed under: UFC, Rankings, WelterweightsNick Diaz is the top contender for Georges St. Pierre’s UFC welterweight title, and he deserves to be.

The reason the UFC decided to reverse course and book Diaz vs. GSP is that it has all the makings of a pay-…

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Nick DiazNick Diaz is the top contender for Georges St. Pierre‘s UFC welterweight title, and he deserves to be.

The reason the UFC decided to reverse course and book Diaz vs. GSP is that it has all the makings of a pay-per-view blockbuster. But it was also the right decision from a competitive standpoint: After Diaz’s UFC 137 victory over B.J. Penn, he’s demonstrated that he deserves to be considered the No. 2 fighter in mixed martial arts at 170 pounds.

So as we rank the Top 10 welterweights in MMA, GSP stays on top with Diaz on his heels. Find out how we rate the rest of the division below.

Top 10 welterweights in MMA
(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did welterweights is in parentheses.)

1. Georges St. Pierre (1): St. Pierre has really never been threatened since losing to Matt Serra in April of 2007; his current nine-fight winning streak consists of six unanimous decisions, two TKOs and one submission win without ever being in any trouble. I don’t think St. Pierre is going to lose to Diaz, but I do think Diaz has the right style, both with his high-volume punching and his ability to submit people off his back, to challenge St. Pierre in a way he hasn’t been challenged before.

2. Nick Diaz (4): As Diaz won 10 fights in a row over the last three years, a lot of skeptics raised questions about whether the guys he was beating were really all that good. No one can ask that about his 11th straight win: Penn is universally regarded as a Top 10 welterweight, and Diaz gave him a thorough pounding. Jon Fitch, who’s No. 2 in most welterweight rankings, wasn’t as successful against Penn as Diaz was. Diaz can compete with the elite, and he’s earned his opportunity to fight the best of the best in St. Pierre.

3. Jon Fitch (2): After 11 months off following his draw with Penn, Fitch is slated to return against Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 on December 30. That’s a fight that won’t do much for Fitch in the welterweight division, but it should be a good opportunity for him to grab another unanimous decision victory.

4. Josh Koscheck (5): Koscheck looked great in his first-round knockout of Matt Hughes in September. Koscheck isn’t ever going to beat St. Pierre, but it was good to see that Koscheck has recovered and is ready to resume his role as one of the welterweight division’s elite fighters.

5. Carlos Condit (7): Condit has looked great on his current four-fight winning streak, but I see no reason he’s more deserving of a title shot than Diaz. I’d like to see Condit win another fight against another Top 10 opponent before he becomes the top welterweight contender.

6. Jake Ellenberger (NR): Ellenberger enters the Top 10 on the strength of his 53-second knockout of Jake Shields. I’d love to see him rematch Condit, whom he lost to by split decision in 2009.

7. Rory MacDonald (9): The 22-year-old MacDonald is 12-1, with the only loss coming to Condit. There’s little doubt that he’ll be fighting for the UFC welterweight title some day, although he’s in no rush to do that. He gets Brian Ebersole next at UFC 140.

8. B.J. Penn (6): Penn is 1-3-1 in his last five fights, but there’s no shame in losing to Frankie Edgar and Nick Diaz, or drawing with Jon Fitch. No matter how discouraged he was after losing to Diaz, Penn shouldn’t retire. He has a lot of big fights ahead of him.

9. Jake Shields (3): Shields is now on a two-fight losing streak after being decisioned by GSP and knocked out by Ellenberger. But look for him to bounce back in 2012. He has too much talent not to.

10. John Hathaway (10): A tough decision at No. 10, but I’ll stick with Hathaway for now. An injury forced Hathaway to drop out of UFC 138, but he’s a very promising 24-year-old with a 15-1 record.

 

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UFC 139: Is Martin Kampmann a Contender or a Gatekeeper?

It’s not really reinventing the wheel to try and figure out where Martin Kampmann is in the UFC’s welterweight division. Anyone who’s been watching him for any amount of time has been trying to figure him out. Every time he enters the…

It’s not really reinventing the wheel to try and figure out where Martin Kampmann is in the UFC’s welterweight division. Anyone who’s been watching him for any amount of time has been trying to figure him out.

Every time he enters the cage he puts on a good show, he fights top guys and he’s never badly beaten. In fact, his last two losses were arguably wins. Actually, he flat out beat Diego Sanchez, no matter what the judges said.

But all those solid performances and good showings against tough opposition have left him in purgatory at 170lbs. What is he? A contender? A gatekeeper? Just a guy?

The reality is, if you’ve only lost to top-10 guys and guys who’ve fought for titles in the UFC, you’re legit. You’re a contender.

Hell, Kampmann has a win over Carlos Condit, who until Tuesday was going to fight for gold next weekend. That has to count for something.

Kampmann’s striking is vaunted, a remarkably crisp style founded on a lifetime of kickboxing. He understands angles and distance, he’s quick and he’s among the more technical combatants in all of MMA, much less his division.

He can also take a tremendous punch, as he’s displayed numerous times—most notably against Paul Daley, who regularly beheads opponents. Daley was unable to put Kampmann to the mat no matter how hard he tried.

He’s also among the most underrated grapplers in the division, as he’s difficult to take down and even more difficult to keep there.

Jake Shields, who has perhaps the best combination of jiu-jitsu and wrestling in all of MMA, had to fight tirelessly to take the Dane to the ground at UFC 121. Even when he did it usually came at the cost of eating big punches and knees.

The issue for Kampmann, it seems, is the gameplan. Particularly, how quickly it goes out the window when he gets the itch to throw down.

Training at Xtreme Couture in Vegas, he has access to perhaps the best mind in mixed martial arts in Randy Couture, a champion who proved his mettle countless times in the Octagon.

Yet, if you tag him or show any willingness to stand and chuck hands at all, Martin Kampmann is standing in front of you and throwing back. Gameplan be damned, he’s knocking you out or he’ll die trying.

That’s perhaps not the best approach if you have an eye on the title.

While people love a guy who throws caution to the wind, you don’t see those guys fight for gold that often.

You need to temper your enthusiasm to crack skulls a little, and perhaps use some of that unheralded wrestling and grappling from time to time. Kampmann won’t, and as a result he finds himself hovering in the top-10 but never really making up much ground.

Maybe that makes him a gatekeeper, a stout test for anyone who thinks they deserve to fight the big fish. There’s certain as strong an argument for him being a gatekeeper as there is for contender.

Therefore, it’s probably only fair to say that Martin Kampmann isn’t too far from either side of that dividing line between contender and gatekeeper.

In fact, perhaps he is that line.

But with a win over Rick Story at UFC 139, he’ll be back on the contender side of things, which is at the very least a guarantee for some exciting fights in the future. No fan can hate that idea.

 

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