Jake Shields Youtube Videos
Jake Shields Bio
Jake Shields (born January 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently fighting in the middleweight division of the UFC. He is the last Rumble on the Rock 175 lb (79 kg) champion. He is the first and last Elite XC Welterweight Champion. He is also the former Shooto Welterweight Champion and is the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. Shields is currently ranked as the #8 welterweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly.
He has trained extensively with Cesar Gracie, and is a member of the "Elite Pack" which includes fellow Cesar Gracie students Dave Terrell, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez. After his loss to Akira Kikuchi he won 15 consecutive fights over 6 years, until his loss to Georges St-Pierre. Among his victories are wins over Martin Kampmann, Dan Henderson, Paul Daley, Hayato Sakurai, Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. He describes his style as American Jiu jitsu.
Early life
Shields was raised near Mountain Ranch California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He was home schooled up to junior high. He and his two older brothers grew up at the end of a dirt road on the rim of the Jesus Maria Canyon. Their nearest friends were a 45 minute hike down one side of the canyon and up the other. Their activities included mountain biking, wild caving, snowboarding, clearing brush, bucking firewood, climbing mountains, exploring the high country, and wrestling.
Shields began amateur wrestling at age nine. He has competed in over 600 folk, freestyle, and submission wrestling matches. Shields was a four year varsity wrestler and state qualifier at Calaveras High School, finished 2nd place at the Amateur Athletic Union National Freestyle Championships, qualified for U.S.A./ FILA Nationals & World Team Trials in both the junior & university men's divisions. He is also a two time All American wrestler from Cuesta College. In September 1999, Shields began his MMA training by joining Chuck Liddell's SLO Kickboxing Academy. Within a few weeks he fought his first fight, filling in for an injured teammate at 185 lbs. Shields fought five fights at 185 lbs "for fun, to stay in shape and learn some self defense". In 2001, Shields decided he wanted to make a career of mixed martial arts and began fighting at his natural weight of 170 lbs (77 kg).
In the summer of 2001, Shields received a wrestling scholarship to San Francisco State University. At that time he began training with the Cesar Gracie Fight Team, resulting in a dramatic improvement in his jiu jitsu. He is a three time Grapplers Quest Advance Champion, Pan American Championships Jiu Jitsu Champion, Pan Am Open Advance Submission Champion, Gracie Open Superfight Champion and finished 3rd place at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 2005. His victory at the Pan American Championships (which requires wearing a uniform) as a purple belt is notable because Jake Shields claims he has trained "about four hours with the gi in [his] life," and the Pan Americans is one of the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions in the world. He continued to improve on the kickboxing skills he picked up with Chuck Liddell, by cross-training with the professional Muay Thai kickboxing team at the Fairtex combat Academy, training with Muay Thai Champions Jongsanan Fairtex and Alex Gong. He was awarded the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Cesar Gracie in February 2007.
Shields was the head instructor of BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and MMA at the Fairtex-Gracie affiliate in San Francisco from March 2002 until April 2008.
Shields has developed a style of fighting called "American Jiu-Jitsu" which he has tattooed on his forearm. Shields' American Jiu-Jitsu is a no-gi style of grappling for MMA and self-defense is a complete combat art that combines the relaxed and ready position and submission techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the explosive takedowns, throws and transitions of wrestling. Shields has an iron chin which was best displayed in his fight with Dan Henderson where he took numerous big shots from Hendo in the 1st round and came back to win the next 4 rounds and get a unanimous decision victory.
Mixed martial arts
Shields is best known for his 15-fight winning streak, finishing eight of his last eleven opponents before being beaten by George St. Pierre in a hard fought five round battle. Shields has captured the Shooto World Mixed Martial Arts Championship and the Rumble on the Rock World Championship. He beat Nick Thompson for the Elite XC Welterweight World Championship in the first round via guillotine Choke. He captured the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight World Championship via unanimous decision in a match against Jason 'Mayhem' Miller. Most recently, he beat the heavily favored Dan Henderson on April 17, 2010, to retain the middleweight title.
At Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields he fought EliteXC's last middleweight champion and former two-time ICON Sport middleweight champion at a catchweight of 182 pounds (83 kg). Lawler took the center of the cage and looked comfortable on his feet. Robbie Lawler said in the post fight interview, "His striking was good. He threw a lot of kicks. He worked. He threw hands and wasn't shying away from standup, that's for sure." Two minutes into the first round, Shields pounced and secured a guillotine choke to finish his opponent via submission at 2:02 of the first round.
At Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers he fought Jason 'Mayhem' Miller for Strikeforce's vacant middleweight title after Cung Le stepped down as champion to pursue his acting career. Shields won the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight Championship when he defeated Jason "Mayhem" Miller via unanimous decision. Shields won the fight 49–46, 49–46 and 48–47.
Shields successfully defended the Strikeforce Middleweight Title, defeating former Pride World Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson on April 17, 2010, at Strikeforce on CBS.
Shields is currently ranked in the pound-for-pound rankings by Sports Illustrated and Inside MMA, as well as being ranked in two weight classes, welterweight and middleweight.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Shields was spotted and shown on camera next to Dana White at the WEC 48 PPV. With Dana White saying, "He's mine!" and his arm around Shields, this fueled rumors of Shields signing with the UFC. Jake Shields stated in an interview that it was tough for Strikeforce to provide him with exciting fights and this would be a key aspect in his decision to stay or leave. Dana White also stated in this interview he would be willing to pay huge sums to strip away one of Strikeforce's champions. This has further fueled speculation that Shields would leave Strikeforce for the UFC.
On June 30, Strikeforce released Shields from the organization during his contract renegotiation period. Shields then entered into talks with the UFC, with his manager and father Jack Shields stating that his son is eager to fight against top UFC fighters, such as Anderson Silva. In July 2010, it was reported that Shields was close to signing a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to compete in the promotion's Welterweight division.
Shields made his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann on October 23, 2010, at UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez. Prior to Shields's UFC debut, UFC President Dana White stated that Shields is most likely next for a shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship between the winner of Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck if he defeated Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 on October 23. After Shields defeated Kampmann via split decision, White later confirmed that Shields would receive a title shot against the St. Pierre-Koscheck winner.
Georges St-Pierre won his UFC 124 bout against Josh Koscheck. Shields fought St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship on April 30, 2011, at UFC 129 in Toronto. Shields lost via unanimous decision (50–45, 48–47, 48–47). This was Shields's first loss in over 6 years.
Shields faced Jake Ellenberger on September 17, 2011 at UFC Fight Night 25, losing via first round TKO. This was the first time Shields has been finished in over ten years.
Shields faced Yoshihiro Akiyama on February 26, 2012 at UFC 144, defeating Akiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Shields is now expected to return to the Middleweight division sometime in August.
Shields is expected to face Ed Herman on August 11, 2012 at UFC 150.
Personal life
Shields is a single father to a ten-year-old daughter. He has opened a studio in Berkeley called Shields' Gracie Fighter MMA and Fitness, but no longer teaches there. He is a lifelong vegetarian. In 2011 he switched to being fully vegan. He appeared in both print and video ads for PETA, touting his vegetarian lifestyle.
On August 29, 2011 Shields' father and manager Jack Shields passed away at the age of 67.
Television and film
Jake Shields is starring and producing a documentary on the sport of MMA titled Fight Life, the film is directed by independent filmmaker James Z. Feng and set to release in the summer of 2011. Shields appeared in three episodes of Bully Beatdown on MTV and MTV2 on April 12, 2009, a different episode on September 10, and again on an mtv.com exclusive episode. Shields also served as a grappling coach for Chuck Liddell on The Ultimate Fighter 11, and appeared on the channel Animal Planet for episodes of "Wild Recon" and "Venom in Vegas".
Championships and accomplishments
Amateur wrestling
- USA Wrestling
- FILA Junior World Team Trials Qualifier
- FILA University World Team Trials Qualifier
- Amateur Athletic Union
- Freestyle Wrestling National Championship runner-up
- California Community College Athletic Association
- All-American (1997, 1998)
- All-State Selection (1997, 1998)
- Western State Conference All First Team Selection (1997, 1998)
- Collegiate career record: 56–14 (1997–1998)
- California Interscholastic Federation
- CIF State Championship Qualifier (1997)
-
- Mother Lode League Champion (1997)
- Calaveras High School Wrestling Wall of Fame (1996–1997)
- Calaveras High School Record for Most Near Falls in a Season (74)
- Scholastic career record: 108–45 (1993–1997)
Mixed martial arts
- Strikeforce
- Strikeforce Middleweight Championship (One time)
- One successful title defense
- Elite Xtreme Combat
- EliteXC Welterweight Championship (One time; first; last)
- One successful title defense
- Professional Shooto Japan
- Shooto Welterweight Championship (One time)
- Rumble on the Rock
- Welterweight Tournament Winner
Submission grappling
- Abu Dhabi Combat Club
- 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships bronze medalist
- International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
- 2005 Pan American Championships gold medalist
- International Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Federation
- 2007 Gracie Open Superfight champion
- Grapplers Quest
- Grapplers Quest Advance champion (three times)
Mixed martial arts record
Submission grappling record
See also
- List of male mixed martial artists
External links
- Official website
- Professional MMA record for Jake Shields from Sherdog
- UFC Profile
- Gracie Fighter Profile
- Jake Shields BJJ Heroes
- Jake Shields at the Internet Movie Database
MMA Shirts
