Posted by Vegas Martin in
UFC News
on Monday, October 25th, 2010
Despite his close win over Martin Kampmann in his UFC debut, Jake Shields did just enough at Saturday’s UFC 121 to earn a shot at the welterweight title against the winner of December’s UFC 124 fight between Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck.
“No matter where Jake’s fought, what he’s done, who he’s beat, and what he accomplished, it’s tough coming into the UFC for the first time,” UFC President Dana White said. “He beat a tough guy tonight and got his first win under his belt. I don’t think any less of him today than I did yesterday.”
Shields, who gave up the Strikeforce middleweight title to join the UFC, got out to a strong start over Kampmann in his UFC debut, but tired out in the later rounds of the fight.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but that was the first time down at 170 (pounds) in a while,” Shields said. “I think I dropped too much weight. If that was a factor I don’t know, but I pulled out 20 pounds in a day. Will I do that again? Never.”
Loading ...
Crucito
Date: Oct 25, 2010 at 10:53 amYou know when guys say they don’t wanna make an excuse for some reason what follows sounds awfully like an excuse. I like Jake Shields but based on his performance I can’t say I agree he deserves a title shot, but the UFC wants a big name to challenge the winner of GSP/Kos.
I get it UFC it’s about buyrates and putting people in seats it’s about marketing and selling a product.
It’s NOT about giving the right guy the title shot or making a compelling match. Jake Shields is a brand and like any brand you gotta capitalize now on it’s potential earning power.
I get it. I truly do. I just don’t like it but my opinion doesn’t matter I am a fan. What do I know. Maybe he will give us one hell of a match next time out and I hope he does because another petformance like that will just disappoint immensely.
Vegas Martin
Date: Oct 25, 2010 at 10:59 amCrucito, I agree with you. However, who else is there in the welterweight division? The fact of the matter is, there’s no one else in the division who can challenge GSP.