Jake Shields

Jake Shields (born January 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and submission grappler.

He was the last Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Champion, the only Elite XC Welterweight Champion, a former Shooto Welterweight Champion and former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.

He also fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) challenging Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship.

He has trained extensively with Fairtex SF and Cesar Gracie and is a member of the "Skrap 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 six years until his loss to UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre.

He describes his style as "American Jiu-Jitsu."

Shields was raised near Mountain Ranch, California, in the Sierra Nevada.

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 601 folkstyle, 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. / FILA Nationals & World Team Trials in both the junior & university men's divisions.

He is also a two-time junior college All-American wrestler from Cuesta College, placing 4th in the California JC state tournament in the 177 lb weight class in 1997 and 3rd in the 197 lb weight class a year later.

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 lb. 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 lb.

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.

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's 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 is best known for his 15-fight winning streak, finishing eight of his eleven opponents before being defeated by UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in a hard-fought five round battle at UFC 129.

Shields has captured the Shooto World Mixed Martial Arts Championship and the Rumble on the Rock World Championship.

He submitted Nick Thompson via guillotine choke in a bout for the Elite XC Welterweight Championship.

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 lb. 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 the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight Championship after Cung Le stepped down as champion to pursue his acting career.

Shields defeated Miller via unanimous decision (48–47, 49–46, and 49–46).

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 Fighting 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 successfully defended his title, defeating former Pride World Welterweight and Pride Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson via unanimous decision on April 17, 2010, at Strikeforce: Nashville.

Shields was spotted and shown on camera next to UFC President 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.