Would Jake Shields have gone to sleep had he not been saved by the bell? “Fedor vs. Rogers” coverage here and here.
“Cung Le doesn’t want to fight me. That’s why he vacated the title only to come back a month later and fight again. You’ll have to ask Cung why he won’t fight me.”
Newly crowned Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields takes at shot at Cung Le during the “Fedor vs. Rogers” post fight press conference on Nov. 7 from the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Shields bested Jason “Mayhem” Miller in a five round unanimous decision victory to lay claim to the belt that Le vacated just last month. Le contends that he was not expecting to be available to to fight so soon, but his current acting gig was delayed when the movie he was filiming got pushed back a year, thus freeing him up for a return to Strikeforce against Scott Smith on Dec. 19. Is Le avoiding the ground game of Shields? Or is this just a case of inconvenient timing? Thoughts?
Check out Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Jake Shields eying each other up after the jump. For the complete photo gallery of the Strikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers” pre-fight press conference head over to CombatLifestyle.com.
***Bonus Pic! Even “The Grim” stands in awe of Marloes Coenen!
Strikeforce returns to action this Saturday night and will finally be able to utilize the most valuable asset they acquired when they purchased ProElite’s assets – the CBS Saturday Night Fights contract.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers – Um, do we really even need to discuss this fight at all?
Outside of calling himself “The Grim” and having a tough-guy mohawk, what exactly does Brett Rogers have going for himself in this fight?
A win over James Thompson? Wow, stellar. A victory over Ron Humphries? Well tickle me pink. A victory over Andrei Arlovski? Impressive, but not that impressive considering it was against the 2009 version of Arlovski and not the 2004-05 version.
Fedor is Fedor. Period. Nothing else needs to be said.
Fedor is Fedor.
Rogers has no chance.
Fedor is Fedor.
Fedor is Fedor.
Fedor is Fedor.
Fedor is Fedor.
Winner: Fedor EmelianenkoJake Shields vs. Jason Miller – Jake Shields insists he is still on a machine to get the “respect” that he deserves as a fighter. Personally, I don’t think anyone is sleeping on Jake Shields anymore and that he has all the respect he deserves. Nevertheless, Shields is now trying his hand at middleweight in an attempt to prove his worth and mettle as a competitor.
To me, Jason Miller seems like a perfect opponent for Shield’s debut before a national audience on CBS. While Jason Miller is more known for his flamboyant speech and mannerisms, behind that facade is a truly talented fighter. Miller also brings some huge national name recognition with the younger audience to this fight after his two successful season’s hosting a show on MTV.
Miller has looked strong in his recent battles with Ronaldo Souza, and his grappling in their first matchup was solid. However, I have a strong suspicion that his grappling just isn’t anywhere near good enough to compete with Jake Shields. Shields has turned into something of a submission savant in recent months.
While Miller should put on a good show as always and give Shields a decent test, I fully expect the night to end with Shields holding both the middleweight and welterweight Strikeforce belts above his head.
Winner: Jake Shields
Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Sokoudjou – I don’t really think much analysis needs to be given to the Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou fight. This is a matchup of two fighters headed in completely different directions in their respective careers.
Sokoudjou enjoyed quick notoriety when he quickly dispatched Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in PrideFC back in 2007, but quickly fizzled out and was never able to capitalize on the hype he had created. Losses to Lyoto Machida, Luiz Cane, and Renato Sobral have left the Team Quest member languishing in the DREAM “Super Hulk” tournament, MMA’s version of a circus side show.
Gegard Mousasi, on the other hand, continues to climb to new heights in his career and is now attacking the light heavyweight division. With a 26-2 record, Mousasi rolled through the Japanese middleweight scene losing only to Akihiro Gono in 2006 before winning the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix in 2008.
Mousasi has won his last 13 fights using all many of stoppages to get it done. I see Mousasi defeating Sokou anyway he pleases; by strikes, submission or total humiliation.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi
Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva – Conventional wisdom probably dictates that the more experience Fabricio Werdum should take this fight easily. Werdum has fought vastly superior fighters over his career and is the much better grappler.
However, I’ve watched both these men fight multiple times over the past few years, and I’m going to go against “conventional wisdom” here.
Antonio Silva is really an enigma of a fighter. Silva is surprising quick on his feet for a fighter of his size, and has, what may be a surprise to some, a decent ground game as well.
In my opinion, Werdum simply hasn’t looked impressive at all in his recent fights (save the victory over Gabriel Gonzaga) and I think Silva’s size and striking will give him a run for his money in this fight.
If Werdum show’s up in good shape and with a good game plane (i.e. taking the fight to the ground for a submission) he could very easily win this fight quickly; if not, I look for Silva to win via decision.
Winner: Antonio Silva
… he wants to beat him up:
“I think it’s funny how some people are underestimating me. I’m shocked at the odds. I should be the favorite. But oddsmakers’ jobs are to make money and to get action. I’m going to turn this into a brawl. I’m not interested in turning it into a hugging contest, which is what he may do. I want to keep the fight at a fast pace, while I think Jake will want to slow it down and grind it out. It’s possible, if I have my way, and Shields does his part, that we will have the fight of the night.”
Will ‘Mayhem’ be able to keep it upright or will Shields grind out another decision and/or submission win to capture the Strikeforce middleweight championship this Saturday night? Predictions, please.
Props: AllElbows.com (Click the link to check out the complete photos gallery)
Jake Shields (28–4–1) is one of only a handful of mixed martial artists who have managed to become stars domestically fighting outside the UFC.
To the casual MMA fan his name may not be all that familiar … yet. On the other hand, the hardcore fans and media know full well he’s one of the top fighters in the world regardless of what organization he’s currently fighting for.
The 30-year-old is currently on a 12-fight win streak that dates back to November 2005, which includes victories over quality opponents such as Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Mike Pyle, Nick Thompson, Paul Daley and Robbie Lawler, among others.
His last fight against Lawler under the Strikeforce banner was at a catchweight of 182 pounds as he began his transition from his natural weight class at the welterweight limit of 170 pounds to the 185 pound middleweight class to pursue bigger fights.
The man standing in his way of making it 13 in a row is a very seasoned, very dangerous Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22–6, 1 no contest).
The fight will be for the vacated Strikeforce middleweight championship formerly held by Cung Le, which Le won by defeating Frank Shamrock way back in March 2008, but he never once defended it because has been more involved in the movie business than mixed martial arts.
As a result, Shields and Mayhem will collide at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., for the title on Nov. 7. The event will be broadcast live on CBS to a massive nationwide audience.
A victory for Shields would add another belt to his growing collection that includes championships in Rumble on the Rock, Shooto, and EliteXC. A loss would send him back to the drawing board to evaluate his options as he inches closer toward the end of his current fight contract.
Shields took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about a wide range of subjects, including the possibility of going after two Strikeforce belts, avoiding nicknames, the signing of Herschel Walker, Mayhem Miller, and UFC champion Georges St. Pierre.
Check it out:
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What was your take on the Shogun Rua/Lyoto Machida fight at UFC 104?
Jake Shields: I thought it was a good technical fight. I had Shogun winning. It was a close fight. I gave at least three rounds to Shogun. I had two rounds that I pretty much gave a draw. If I was a judge I would’ve given it to Shogun.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): The 10-point must scoring system is always up for debate after a fight like that one. Do you like the way the current scoring system is or think it should be changed?
Jake Shields: It’s really tough to score a fight in general. One problem is that the 10-point must system weighs too much on the last round, which isn’t fair either. I think more than the system, it’s the judges. I think we need judges that know the sport. These guys get paid to judge and people bring their buddies in who don’t know anything about the sport to judge. I think they need to fix that more than the actual judging system.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): In your last fight you were able to submit Robbie Lawler in the first round, but what impressed me the most was your stand up leading up to the submission. Do you feel like you were winning the stand up battle prior to the grappling?
Jake Shields: Yeah, I definitely did. I thought I was doing really good out there, but I went back and watched the announcers and they talked about how bad I was losing, but if you watch it I wasn’t. I think they had their minds made up about my stand up (beforehand). Frank Shamrock was going off about how I was in trouble, but it looked like I was landing a lot more shots than Robbie was, in my opinion.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Is your stand up something you’ve been focusing on extra hard in your training?
Jake Shields: Yeah, the last two years I focused a lot on my stand up trying to catch up. Grappling is still my stronger point. I work a lot on my stand up and feel a lot more comfortable there.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re no stranger to fighting on CBS; however, this time it’s not the Kimbo Slice show that Elite XC was promoting, it’s the Fedor Emelianenko show. Talk about that dynamic.
Jake Shields: I think it’s awesome to be fighting on the card with Fedor Emelianenko. He’s one of my favorite fighters of all time. He’s the headliner but to be the co-headliner is quite an honor to be fighting alongside him. I’m really excited about it. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the promo for it so I hope it gets good ratings.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Have you ever seen Fedor fight in person?
Jake Shields: I actually have. I had the opportunity to go see him twice. I saw him in Japan fight the giant Korean guy (Hong Man Choi). I also saw him fight Andrei Arlovski in Affliction. He’s awesome to watch live.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Will you be coming out of your locker room to watch him fight after yours?
Jake Shields: I definitely plan on watching it as long as I’m not banged up. I plan on just going in the back and doing what I have to do and hopefully they’ll let me come out and watch. Sometimes athletic commissions won’t let you run back out so hopefully they’ll let me.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Strikeforce signed a guy recently who made his name outside the sport of MMA in Herschel Walker. I wanted to get your thoughts on his signing.
Jake Shields: Personally, I think it’s a good sign. Most people criticize it, obviously, but a guy like that is a phenomenal athlete. He’s a well known guy. He certainly shouldn’t be headlining any cards like Kimbo Slice was, but I think he definitely deserves a spot in Strikeforce. Maybe the first televised fight of the night or something. He’s obviously established himself as a great athlete. Hopefully he’s taking the sport seriously and he’ll go out there and maybe actually be a decent fighter.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re scheduled to face Jason “Mayhem” Miller on November 7. You guys did two episodes on MTV’s Bully Beatdown together. Did you guys get a chance to know each other at all during or outside filming?
Jake Shields: I’ve actually known Mayhem for years. We’re friends but it’s not like we’re great friends or anything. When I see him we’ll talk. It’s not like we call each other on the phone and catch up with each other. I like the guy, but I have no problem trying to break his nose.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): It’s conceivable you could beat the crap out of each other for five rounds and then go have a drink together afterwards?
Jake Shields: Yeah, definitely. I plan on winning the fight, but if for some chance I lost I wouldn’t be bitter. It’s not personal. It’s just a fight and I think we’re both aware of that. It’s related to the business. Sometimes you have to beat up people that are your friends.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Both of you have the majority of your career wins by submission. You’re both great on the ground. A lot of the time this translates into a stand up battle. Is it possible we see you two going toe-to-toe the whole time?
Jake Shields: It’s possible. I don’t think for 25 minutes. I think at some point one of us will go for takedowns because we’re both grapplers. He’ll go for a takedown and then I’ll go for a takedown, but I wouldn’t mind doing a little stand up with him either. I think this is the fight that people could see anything. I’m certainly willing to fight anywhere and I think he probably is too.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Besides your own gym in Berkeley, Calif., where has your training camp been taking place at for this fight?
Jake Shields: Over at Cesar’s gym. Cesar Gracie’s gym is about 30 minutes from here. Nick and Nate Diaz and Gil Melendez have been coming a lot and they come into my gym. I went down to LA for a little bit working at Wild Card Boxing. I went a few places but the majority of the training at my gym and Cesar’s.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I know you train at American Kickboxing Academy from time to time as well. I would think that has to help you out a ton with the stable of quality welterweights they have in Fitch, Koscheck and Swick. Do you concur?
Jake Shields: It’s definitely good, hard sparring. I don’t go there too much just because there’s a good chance I’ll fight some of those guys. They’re not my friends, but it’s just a situation where there are a lot of top fighters there, so I’m sure at some point I’ll fight somebody from that gym. Definitely a lot of talented guys there.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Are you still finding it hard to gain solid weight to try to fill out as a 185’er while continuous training?
Jake Shields: I put some weight on in between fights but once you’re training hard for a fight it’s pretty much impossible to put too much solid weight on. You’re training it all off. I’m eating a lot. I got a chance to catch a sponsor now that has some awesome products. That has helped me gain some weight and keep it lean.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What is your weight now and what do you expect to weigh in at on November 7?
Jake Shields: I’ll weigh in at 185, but I’m walking around at about 193, which is where I was at earlier today. Definitely small for 185 still, but at least I have to cut a few pounds.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re not exactly doing the Anthony Johnson weight cut though.
Jake Shields: That guy is massive. He could probably fight 185. I saw him about a month ago and I was like, “You’re coming to 170’s?” He was like over 200 when I saw him.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Your style of jiu-jitsu is American jiu-jitsu. Tell me the difference between that and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Jake Shields: A few small changes. I have an American wrestling background and a black belt in Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu. It’s minus the gi and it’s a combination of the two. Not enough people mix the wrestling and the jiu-jitsu. I think they’re both crucial so I combined the two. It’s a lot more high paced jiu-jitsu. It’s not about waiting. Jiu-jitsu is about waiting for your opponents to make mistakes. I’m about forcing your opponents to make mistakes.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Before Mayhem signed on for your fight Frank Shamrock was a potential opponent for you as well. Why did that fight never materialize?
Jake Shields: I don’t think Shamrock wants any part of me. He’s past his prime. After the beating that Nick Diaz gave him he had a reality check. I think maybe he was thinking he could still fight young, tough fighters and it was really a wake up call. Now he will want to try to fight older guys or some B-level fighters. I don’t expect Frank to ever want to fight me at this point.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You seem to have avoided a nickname up to this point even though you’ve been around a while. Are you just praying that something ridiculous doesn’t stick to you at this point?
Jake Shields: (Laughs) Exactly. People try to give me nicknames and I keep pushing them away. I’m not against taking a nickname if it was a cool nickname with a meaning. I don’t want one of these ridiculous nicknames just for the sake of having one. I don’t want to be like “Darth” Bader or “The Dean of Mean” Jardine. Those are cool guys and all but those nicknames are like, really?
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Don’t forget “The Dream Catcher” Gegard Mousasi.
Jake Shields: Yeah, I don’t know where they come up with these nicknames. They just pick anything. I don’t think everyone needs a nickname.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I talked to Jon Fitch about this a few months ago. He basically said it has to come from your friends or teammates and nothing has ever stuck but, on the other hand, he can’t just show up at the gym and tell everyone to call him Cobra or something like that.
Jake Shields: (Laughs) I think that’s what a lot of guys are doing nowadays. They think they found a cool nickname and then come in and are like, “hey, this is my nickname.”
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Moving forward, how many fights left on your current contract if you don’t mind saying?
Jake Shields: I think it’s one or two after this fight. My dad handles the exact contract. I’m not that sure right now, but I know it’s not too many. There’s also a time clause on it.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Are you interested in going after not only the middleweight belt but the Strikeforce welterweight belt as well?
Jake Shields: I would like to do that. I think that would be awesome to take both. I don’t know what Strikeforce wants to do. I think they kind of want different champs, but I would certainly be willing to fight for both. There’s also the problem with Nick Diaz fighting in Strikeforce as well. I don’t want to try to cut in and step on his toes. If the opportunity was right and it wouldn’t block Nick I would definitely fight for both belts.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Strikeforce seems to be having problems with guys not defending their belts. What would justify stripping a guy of his belt in your opinion?
Jake Shields: I guess you have to look at it fighter for fighter to figure out what the reasons are to figure out if they’re legitimate. I think if someone hasn’t defended it in a year that’s long enough. A lot of these guys have legitimate reasons like Josh Thomson. I know Josh. He legitimately broke his foot a couple times so what are you going to do? You don’t really want to strip someone in that situation, but if someone is not fighting it can get kind of ridiculous too.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Cung Le and Alistair Overeem, on the other hand, are different situations.
Jake Shields: Oh yeah. Cung Le definitely needed to be stripped. Nothing against Cung Le but you can’t just hold onto a belt and not fight, and then say you want to do movies or say you’ll only fight if they give you an easy fight.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Right now people are having a tough time figuring out who can beat Georges St. Pierre in the UFC now that he’s run through the majority of their 170’s. Is he still a guy you’d like to test your skills against someday?
Jake Shields: Definitely. I’d love to fight GSP one day. Right now I’m here with Strikeforce and worried about fights that are realistic. That’s a dream fight. I hope he keeps winning and I keep winning so at some point that fight becomes a reality.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Assuming the UFC continues to have the majority of the top welterweights in the world moving forward, will your career be complete if you don’t have a UFC belt when it’s all said and done?
Jake Shields: It would be nice to get that UFC belt but it all depends on what Strikeforce does too. Right now they’re doing really good things. I’ve heard rumors about guys like Dan Henderson. They’re treating me really good so I’m just going to take it one step at a time. It would be awesome to have that UFC belt but that’s not my ultimate goal either.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Before we go would you like to pass along a message to your fans out there or thank any sponsors?
Jake Shields: Thanks to all the fans for the support. I want to thank Champion Nutrition, Tapout, Rockstar Energy Drink and EA Sports. And my whole team and trainers. Without them I wouldn’t be fighting.
Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Appreciate the time. Thank you again. I’ll see you up in Chicago for the fight.
Jake Shields: Awesome. It was no problem at all. I’ll see you in Chicago.
Derek Bolender is an MMA contributor to MMAmania.com, CBSSports.com, BleacherReport.com, and InsideFights.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DerekMMAwriter and Facebook.com/Derek.Bolender.
The Strikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers” media conference call took place today, and while neither of the participants in the night’s main attraction (Fedor Emelianenko or Brett “The Grim” Rogers) was featured, main card fighters Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller were on hand to help promote the event, along with Strikeforce Founder and CEO, Scott Coker.
The co-promotion between Strikeforce and M-1 Global gets underway from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, airing live on CBS starting at 9 p.m. ET.
While not the main event, Shields (23-4-1) and Miller (22-6) will face off for the Strikeforce middleweight title, which was recently vacated by Cung Le so that he could pursue an acting career.
Although he’s a natural welterweight, Shields made his promotional debut in June with a first-round submission victory over middleweight “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler. It was his twelfth straight victory.
He cited as reasons for the move up in weight that the 185-pound division is the promotion’s “most stacked division” and that his friend and training partner, Nick Diaz, is already in line for the vacant welterweight title. Despite this, Shields admitted, “If it were up to me, I’d fight at both weights.”
With 13 submission victories of his own, Miller is host of MTV’s smash-hit reality series Bully Beatdown and is one of MMA’s biggest personalities. When asked about what he expects from the production, Miller admitted, “You know me, I’m borderline gay with my showmanship flare.”
Clearly, he feels comfortable in the spotlight.
Regarding his spokesperson duties, Miller said, “If people don’t know about this fight, it’s not my fault. I’m Twittering, Facebooking, MySpacing, and doing anything I can to get the word out … I might as well be spray-painting it on some walls.”
Shields, who has appeared on Miller’s show, Bully Beatdown, admitted that he harbors no ill-will toward “Mayhem,” stating that “it’s business” and that he looks forward to the stylistic match up between two “great grapplers.”
Miller agreed, although he said he’s not above manufacturing some drama if it will help sell tickets. “I fought my dad so many times, and we’re still friends, we’re cool.”
While the event marks the CBS network debut for Miller, Shields has appeared twice on the network, both under the Elite XC banner. In fact, in many ways the Strikeforce card will pick up where the Elite XC promotion left off, after having aired three broadcasts, each in 2008, before ceasing operations in October of that year.
Coker expressed satisfaction with the network’s promotion thus far of the event, despite criticism from Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt that the network might have been “slow” to promote the card. Coker pointed to spots aired during CBS broadcasts of NFL and SEC football games, calling them “amazing.”
Hunt also pressed Coker about the nature of fighter contracts — especially for Strikeforce champions — and whether or not he will pursue exclusive deals with champions to avoid future problems with fighters who refuse to defend their titles, as we’ve seen with former middleweight champion Cung Le and current heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who hasn’t fought for the promotion since 2007.
Although he was unwilling to get into specifics because each contract is unique and confidential, Coker did say that they were “working to clean it up” and that he expects Overeem to defend his Strikeforce title “early next year.” “From my point of view,” Coker said, “the champion would fight at least twice a year.”
Regarding exclusivity, Miller said that he wants to continue pursuing fights in the U.S. through the Strikeforce promotion, but not at the expense of fighting in Japan under the DREAM banner, under which he is now 1-1 (with 1 no contest).
When asked where he was when he first learned he’d be fighting on CBS, Miller joked, “Is this like one of those ‘Where were you when you found out President Kennedy was shot?’ (questions) because I can’t answer that, I don’t know. I can’t say, ‘I was sipping on a coconut and I dropped the coconut when I found out this thing was going to go down.’”
Shields took a more serious tone, saying that, although it’s not his first fight on CBS, he still feels just as excited about it, saying his upcoming title fight against Miller is “the most important fight of my life.”
In his closing remarks, Miller pointed (if only for a moment) toward the network debut of Fedor Emelianenko as the reason to watch the upcoming CBS card, stating that he’s been waiting for quite some time to watch Fedor on free television. “I’ll be excited to be watching in the front row … with my brand new Strikeforce belt.”
In addition to Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Rogers (10-0) and Miller vs. Shields, the Strikeforce event will also feature a heavyweight matchup between Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) and Antonio “Junior” Silva (13-1), as well as light heavyweight Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. an as-of-yet unnamed opponent.
“I know people down here and I heard (Jason Miller) is training really hard. You know, Mayhem is a crazy guy but he definitely has his shit together. He knows this is a huge opportunity to come in there and beat me. He doesn’t really get the chance to show what he really can bring to the table on “Bully Beatdown” and this is his chance to show the world what he can do. This is his chance to come out [and prove] he is legit, especially on CBS. If he were to go out there and beat me, it would legitimize him to a lot of people and I’m not going to let him take what I’ve worked so hard for … I don’t want to take a step backwards and lose everything I’ve worked so hard for. I mean, the ‘Rumble on the Rock’ tournament was one of the toughest tournaments ever, but no one saw it. So now with CBS, the card’s legit, and I’m going to go out there and make a statement against Mayhem.”
– Former Elite XC welterweight champion Jake Shields tells Examiner.com that he’s going to finally break out and go mainstream with a prime time win over former ICON Sport middleweight champion Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller at Strikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers” from the Sears Centre on Nov. 7 live on CBS. The one-time “Bully Beatdown” buddies have recently been squabbling back-and-forth, claiming that the other was afraid to fight. Now the ink has dried and it’s only a matter of weeks before they hook ‘em up. Who ya’ got?