Strikeforce not engaging in bidding war to keep Jake Shields
Strikeforce Middleweight champion, Jake Shields, recently fulfilled his contract in Strikeforce and is now swimming in the waters of free agency. When a fighter in his caliber becomes a free agent, it sparks a war between the fight promotions, and this doesn’t excite the CEO of Strikeforce one bit. In a recent interview from MMA Junkie , Scott Coker said: “To me, there’s going to be a value that we feel is fair, and that’s going to be it, I don’t think it’s good business to go into [the bidding] business”.
Dana White made no qualms about his intent to sign Jake Shields to the UFC. “Everybody knows he doesn’t want to be there anymore. They suck, we don’t, and he’s coming here” says White. Will UFC fans finally see the mythical GSP VS Jake Shields fight?
The execs of Showtime doesn’t feel that the loss of Shields will break the division and they’re confident of their current roster. After all, they still have Jocare Souza, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Cung Le and a bunch of other top fighters from DREAM that are willing to crossover to Strikeforce because of their unique partnership. The loss of Jake Shields may be disappointing for them but its not the end of the Strikeforce Middleweight Division.
If Shields and Strikeforce doesn’t come to terms they plan to put up an eight man tournament that will be held on August 21 where the winner will become the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.
Jake Shields is ranked in the top ten welterweight fighters in MMA and GSP himself wants a piece of Jake Shields. His move in UFC will definitely give him top competition and find out for himself if he really is one of the top fighters in the world. Do you think Jake Shields is a threat at the UFC Middleweight division with Anderson Silva dominating it right now? Or can he even usurp GSP from his throne?
Category: MMA