Penick's Take
PENICK: Jake Shields should test himself in the UFC when his Strikeforce contract is up
Mar 19, 2010 - 9:50:52 PM PENICK: Jake Shields should test himself in the UFC when his Strikeforce contract is up

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields is set to finish his contract with the organization following his fight with Dan Henderson on next month's Strikeforce: Nashville event on CBS. Shields finds himself in a unique position after this fight as, regardless of the fight's outcome, he will not be held down contractually to Strikeforce.

This was an intentional move on his part to allow himself to test what offers he can receive as a free agent; and while he has come out and expressed his pleasant experience in working with Strikeforce, the place many want to see him end up is the UFC. Win or lose against Dan Henderson, the UFC should be his next destination.

"I am happy with Strikeforce," Shields said when speaking with MMAJunkie.com this week. "They've given me big fights like I asked for, so I'm happy with them. But also, I do want big fights, and of course the UFC has a lot of big fights as well."

He said it right there. He wants the big fights. After Dan Henderson, there aren't a whole lot of major challenges for him in the middleweight division in Strikeforce, and he won't fight in their welterweight division because his friend and training partner Nick Diaz is that division's Champion. Quite simply, the UFC is the place for Jake Shields.

I'm not the only one feeling this sentiment. Michael David Smith at MMAFighting.com wrote this week "The UFC doesn't just have big fights, it has the biggest fights in the sport. With White already on the record as an admirer of Shields' talents, and with Shields hoping to test himself against the best, it makes a lot of sense for the Henderson bout to be Shields' last in Strikeforce, and for his next fight to be in the UFC."

It's true. At welterweight, his natural weight class, the top fighters in the division, outside of Diaz, lie in the UFC. The biggest fights in the division are in the UFC. The biggest money is in the UFC. The biggest everything is in the UFC, and if he wants the fights he's saying he does that's where he needs to go when his fight with Henderson is behind him.

The sheer number of fights at 170 lbs. for him is worth signing with the UFC for the competition alone. From Thiago Alves to Jon Fitch to Matt Hughes to Josh Koscheck to an eventual showdown with Georges St. Pierre if he gets that far, there's no end to the top talent he can face in the Octagon.

Obviously the risk he runs going into free agency after this fight is a loss drops his stock a bit, and his negotiating power will be affected. That said, it would be loss to Dan Henderson, who left the UFC as one of the contender's for Anderson Silva's Middleweight Title. That's a weight class above where Shields has fought the majority of his career. There's very little shame in losing this fight for Shields, and his negotiation with the UFC will be to enter the welterweight division.

If he wins, the UFC may bring out the big bucks even more because it would mean snagging one of Strikeforce's Champions before he has lost the Title. It's just the right move all around for Jake, win or lose on April 17th, and there's no reason to stay with Strikeforce from a competitive standpoint if he truly wants to prove himself as one of the best welterweights in the world.