Jake Shields signs with UFC
by Mike Williams on July 16, 2010

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields said he wanted to fight top competition and he's backing up those words by signing with the world's top mma promotion, the UFC. 

"Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170lbs weight division in the UFC" the announcement reads on graciefighter.com. "After careful consideration and consulting with UFC representatives it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight."

UFC president Dana White had recently told mmajunkie.com that Shields could choose to fight at welterweight or middleweight but did go on to say, "I think he should come in at 170lbs. Our 185lb. division is nasty. He can (come in as a middleweight) if he wants to but I don't think he wants to."

It seems the matchmakers will waste no time when it comes to testing Shields. The announcement on the website owned by Shields' trainer, Cesar Gracie, went on to say, "Jake's opponent will be one of the UFC's top contenders and will be announced shortly."

Early rumors suggest that his first opponent could be Martin Kampmann and that the fight could take place as early as UFC 121 in October.

Now that this deal is done, speculation will continue as to who might be the next to jump ship from Strikeforce to the UFC.

*Update; Josh Gross of Sports Illustrated is reporting that the contract has yet to be signed although the value of it has been agreed on verbally.

 |  (41) Comments Mtx: I was wishing he would fight there. This should really be a test for him. Tonika Fatale: He is going to have to bring his best now Razia: How about the winner if Fitch/Alves, depending on how soon he wants to fight. mike5k: The latest rumor is that he'll fight Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 in October. Predictions? 1- Does he get by Kampmann? 2- If he has to fight 1 or 2 other contenders before a title shot, will he beat Alves, Fitch, Hardy, Koscheck, or whichever are necessary and get to St. Pierre? 3- If he gets to St. Pierre, what happens? Kable: He will probably get the winner of Akiyama vs Bisping. DragonWarrior: I believe he'll outwrestle Kampmann to a UD then fight GSP for the WW title. GSP knows that his standup is better than Sheilds so we'll see GSP dicate this fight on the feet because GSP knows he can stuff Sheild's takedown. This fight will look similar to the Jon Fitch/GSP fight where GSP beat up Sheilds for 5 rounds. Castle: I think he will take Kampann. He needs to be put up against another strong wrestler like Fitch or Kos to balance things out. I would like to see him against Alves but I think Jake would take him down over and over. Bloodbath: I'd say he gets by Kampmann. I also think he could take down and grind out wins against Hardy and Alves. I'm not so sure he could do it against Kos or Fitch though. If he gets to GSP, he'll get taken down and decisioned. He's definately a threat to antone though. I'm just glad to see a new contender at 170. GO HARD: i dont really like kampmann as his first fight... kampmann will own him as long as it stays standing... jake will prolly just wrestle out a UD. i dont see jake beating any of the top WWs(gsp, kos, fitch) possibly alves if he doesnt get caught. thats his thing.. he has horrible stand up and can get caught... but he has great wrestling. i would love to see him fight gsp cuz we could see the gsp from 5 years ago that would stand up amd bang. IwishIwasMMA: Fuck Shields.. We need other people before Shields. ALVAREZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FEDOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UBEREEM! WERDUM! MO AND SASI! And SF can keep the rest.. unless Nick takes out some more WWs. IwishIwasMMA: I am guessing Shields is fighting either Paulo Thiago or Kampmann is my guess. D_V: Kampmann is the wrong guy to put him against. Kampmann has actual take down defense and much better striking. Kampmann used to look stiff but he looked very fluid against Thiago. He's legit now. I wouldn't want to fight that guy. He's an under rated WW. THere is an outside chance that Shields just does what he does and rides top but I wouldn't be incredibly sure of that. Martin is legit. That's a good fight. Bad first match up for Shields. they should give him someone like Hardy that he could rape. Set up a title shot with a legit WW for GSP. They are mismanaging the 170 lb division here imo. B_Type13X2: We get to see how good Shields really is. I think this is more that the UFC does not have anyone really for GSP to fight, and they are using the Kos fight as filler and hoping to feed Shields some decent middle of the pack fighters before they feed him to GSP. NotchEight: I'm not a big Shields fan. I don't really think he brings all that much to the table. He'll be top 5 but he'll never get by GSP. Plus, I think a GSP/Shields fight would be a snooze fest. EverlastingSpringtime: Great news, WW is stacked, plenty of good matchups to be made by Joe. Sheilds is a great athlete and cuts the lbs well. If he gets it right coming into the first fight he will be a handful for anyone in the division. I dont rate Kampmans T/d defence that high, i think hitman has better striking and ill will be interesting to see how the size up when or if they do fight. I think fighters like Koscheck pose a greater threat to Sheilds as he hasnt always delt well with chaotic fights. and not sure how long he can push a fast pace before gassing. Great new addition to the UFC
HOW WILL THE THIAGO ALVES VS. MARTIN KAMPMANN FIGHT END AT UFC ON FX 2?
Alves def. Kampmann via TKO/KO
Alves def. Kampmann via submission
Alves def. Kampmann via decision
Kampmann def. Alves via TKO/KO
Kampmann def. Alves via submission
Kampmann def. Alves via decision
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!