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View Full Version : UFC 129 Fight Card: Jakes Shields and Setting Realistic Expectations



marcelt
23-04-2011, 18:04
http://cdn3.sbnation.com/profile_images/378118/headkick-xl_tiny.jpg by Matthew Roth (http://www.sbnation.com/users/Matthew%20Roth) on Apr 23, 2011 9:00 AM EDT (http://www.headkicklegend.com/2011/4/23/2119176/ufc-129-fight-card-jakes-shields-and-setting-realistic-expectations)
http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/1100076/7741_large.jpg (http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/1100076/7741_large.jpg)





In one week the UFC will be attempting their largest event in company history, with 55,000 people attending UFC 129 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Headlining the card is Georges St. Pierre (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122591/georges-st-pierre) attempting his sixth consecutive title defense against Jake Shields (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122567/jake-shields) in a fight that is billed as the greatest test of either man's career. St. Pierre is the known commodity for most fans as he has faced a who's who of welterweights with a resume that includes names such as Matt Hughes (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122580/matt-hughes), BJ Penn, Jon Fitch (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122576/jon-fitch), and Josh Koscheck (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122582/josh-koscheck). Jake Shields is the fighter who has toiled away in smaller events, building up an impressive but underwhelming welterweight resume with his best wins happening at Rumble on the Rock's Welterweight tournament in 2006. He's had some nice wins at Middleweight but after an awful showing against Martin Kampmann (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122581/martin-kampmann) at UFC 121, there are legitimate questions about how tough of an opponent he really is.
The first criticism that Jake Shields faces is that he has perhaps the worst stand up in the Welterweight division. While this may sound like an opinion, it isn't. It's a widely accepted fact that his stand up is so poor that opponents only need to work to defend the takedown when fighting Shields. This is important since the man he fights next Saturday arguably the best functional wrestler in MMA and has displayed an uncanny ability to defend the takedowns from some great wrestlers in Koscheck, Hughes, and Sean Sherk (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122543/sean-sherk). Jake Shields has some solid wrestling but his lack of stand up ability makes it very easy to predict his game plan as he's unable to keep opponents guessing to creating openings.
The second criticism is directly related to the first criticism, which is Shields' wrestling. He has very good takedowns but hasn't displayed an ability to shoot a power double. He's more of a Jon Fitch-type wrestler who secures takedowns off the cage and then uses suffocating top game to break opponents down. His takedowns are solid but they don't compare to the aforementioned St. Pierre victims who have all displayed dominant wrestling throughout their MMA careers. Koscheck has been the only opponent of St. Pierre's that has shown any ability to take the champion down, but even his world-renowned blanketing skills were unable to keep Georges down. Shields doesn't have the wrestling pedigree or power double to get St. Pierre down when compared to the other welterweights that St. Pierre has faced.
The third criticism is that Jake's Jiu Jitsu is extremely overstated. Much has been said about how once Jake gets an opponent to the ground, the fight is all but over. However, as displayed in the fight with Martin Kampmann, a fighter with good scrambles is more than able to regain his feet. St. Pierre is the best in the business at defending the takedown and as displayed with his fight against Koscheck at UFC 124, even when taken down by a great wrestler, he has the ability to get back to his feet. Unfortunately with Shields' Jiu Jitsu game, he isn't a bottom player, so if he does concede the takedown, he'll have an extremely difficult time dealing with the constant assault from GSP.
The Zuffa machine is attempting to sell Shields as the best fighter that St. Pierre has ever face but unfortunately, he isn't. He doesn't fight at range well enough and he lacks the power wrestling to be effective from the outside. His inability to sufficiently use striking to get inside will make UFC 129 an extremely long night for Jake Shields. His Jiu Jitsu pedigree is equal to that of St. Pierre who has been training with Renzo Gracie (http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/130034/renzo-gracie), his wrestling is not as effective, and his striking ability shouldn't even be used in the same sentence. This fight will show how far ahead of everyone at 170 St. Pierre really is and how over rated Shields has been. I don't know who will dethrone St. Pierre at 170 but it sure won't be Jake Shields.