He may have poor stand up, but he still gets the job done. In that sense, he is similar to Shinya Aoki (although Aoki probably has even worse standup.) I don't think the fact that he is one dimensional should factor into how he is ranked. As long as he uses that one dimension successfully, and continues to win, he should be respected to the top fighter that he is. By the way, I'm not even a fan of Jake Shields.
Well if your talking about P4P then that is solely decided on your skill set , coupled with achievements , lets look at the list , in no order of note Silva GSP Shogun Fedor Aldo Penn Machida Faber Torres All of the above for me would be as close as it comes to definates with the likes of Thaigo Alves , Rampage , Rashad Evans , Kenny Florian , Nick Diaz , Velasquez , Edgar etc etc etc getting honourable mentions or some getting placed on the list itself !!! How does Shields skill set compare these (the most well rounded fighters in the world) , im not picking holes or looking for a fight here , Shields simply doesnt belong in a cage with any of these fighters at any weight class therefore IMO cannot be considered a P4P entry , thats just my opinion . Aoki has just been dominated by Gil Melendez at his own game , on the ground , ill say what i always say about fighters outside the UFC , you dont know what there made of because there not facing the best in the world , there are exeptions to that rule i agree , Diaz , Fedor , Melendez , Mousasi , Huerta ??? , etc etc , and that fight really showed Aoki to be wanting as a world class mixed martial artist , imagine what a wrestler like Edgar or Tyson Griffin would have done to him ????
I'm not looking forward to seeing him in any 5 rounders but I would pick Jake Shields against most UFC welterweights except GSP and maybe Alves based on his grappling alone. His stand up is sub par but at least hes not afraid to close the distance in order to take the fight to the ground even with dangerous strikers like Dan Henderson and Paul Daley. It'll be really interesting to see what he can do against the best in the UFC. Also, Winfella, you still rank Torres and Faber as P4Pers?
thewinfella, well sheilds just beat dan henderson is that not a good win? would you really place someone like frankie edgar over shields? bj penn losing to st peirre and then to frankie edgar is still ahead of jake sheilds? the man hasnt lost in over 5 years beating opponents like afformentoined dangerous Dan, Robbie Lawler, Yushin Okami, Paul Daley, and Nick Tompson. he is on a 14 fight winning streak and his last 3 fights he moved up to middleweight. obviously p4p is subjective but who should be ranked above him jose aldo? if your still not impressed the remember this is the guy who beat Shannon "The Cannon" Ritch:hey
I think you underestimate Shields' takedown skills, look how many times he was able to takedown a much larger, former olympian in Dan Henderson. The dude has a relentless single leg and he knows how and when to set up his shots. It's silly to say those guys would have "no problem" in stuffing his takedown attempts. I also don't think Shields stand up is quite as bad as you make it out to be. One thing is for certain, that we will get a clearer picture of where he stands in the division once he debuts against Kampmann.
Awesome kampman is a tough dude. I expect shields to take him down and submit him. I wanna see shields vs GSP soon. :happy
I just think its way too soon to place aldo so high up, let him defend his belt a few more times. shogun is fantastic but dont forget he has looked terrable against forrest and Mark Coleman just a couple years ago, give him a some more fights im sure he will prove how great he is again.
I'm 100% with you on this. I'm a huge fan, but he was launched to the top of P4P lists way too fast. We haven't even really seen if he has a complete game yet. His camp and other claim that he jui-jitsu is just as good as his striking, but we haven't seen that on display. I mean, the only loss on his record is by RNC in under a minute.
it seems that's what they do that in wec featherweight division, every time someone beats the champ (before this was mike Tomas brown after beating faber). it seems in mma fans jump from one hype to the next but dont seem to care about consistency. I believe good consistent wins should count for more.
Dan Henderson was in the worst shape of his career in his fight with Shields like ive eluded too i dont want to dis credit any of his wins , as a W is a W but thats the way i see the Henderson fight , additionally Shields was all but done mid way through the 1st round , credit too him for pulling through but a sign of things to come one must think . I rank Jake Shields stand up for a supposid " contender " among the worst in the top echelon of fighters , and fighters like Koscheck and Fitch are better wrestlers than Shields with a more well rounded game i really dont see Shields taking guys like that down at will , your right we wont know for sure what Shields is capable until he fights 2 or 3 fights ...................
So a guy who blows his peers away one by one until he becomes the champion seemingly without ever going into 2nd gear , should sit below somebody who has laid and prayed his way to a phoney title ???? Aldo is the real deal and i think he'll show it even more eventually by moving to 55 if control freak Dana White allows it . It doesnt take the brains of an arch bishop to work out Aldo is something a little bit special :deal
You have a good point and like you say its subjective , i think the hole in his stand up will catch him out in the UFC , but overall you make a good point :good
Damn, all it takes is two performances for a fighter to be deemed a lay n' pray artist? In fact, before his last two fights, he had a finishing streak longer than any that Aldo has put together.