Although he was already the reigning middleweight champion of Strikeforce, to many, Jake Shields was not the favorite going into his title-defense with living legend Dan Henderson. However, after dominating on the ground and making it to positions that could have brought the contest to an end, the belt remained around the waist of Shields, via unanimous decision. GRACIEMAG was already betting on the fighter’s potential, and serves up an article with the vegetarian champion in issue 157, now in bookstores in several places around the world.
Shields (24w, 4l, 1d) started his MMA training with Chuck Liddell but came to know Jiu-Jitsu, a style he defends as his own, through professor Cesar Gracie. The fighter did a fine job of introducing to the Gentle Art techniques he had been practicing for a long time, dubbing the result “American Jiu-Jitsu”.
“I love Jiu-Jitsu and love mixing it with wrestling. That to me is American Jiu-Jitsu, the best of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blended with American wrestling,” he explains to our reporter Nalty Jr.
In the past, Shields beat submission savvy fighters like Leonardo Santos and took third at the ADCC. Other burly fighters like Diego Sanchez were also unable to overcome the Strikeforce champion in no-gi Jiu-Jitsu. The Gentle Art lover sends a message to another grand representative of Jiu-Jitsu competing in MMA:
“Minotauro is the Jiu-Jitsu elite, but his mistake is to try and strike too much. Trading blows with good boxers is a stupid strategy. That’s just like some guy who trains Jiu-Jitsu for three years trying to go to the ground with me: I’ll submit him,” he says.
Want to find out more about the Strikeforce champion? Then head to your local bookstore to get GRACIEMAG 158. And, as proof of Shields’s skills, check out the video of his submission win over Leo Santos below: