WECWorld Extreme Cagefighting is an American mixed martial arts promotion. It is the sister promotion to the UFC, both owned and produced by ZUFFA, with a focus on lighter weight classes and talent building for the UFC. As with its older and much larger sibling, the WEC uses the same rules as the UFC, but it holds its fights in a smaller octagonal cage.
He just upped his win streak to 9 in a row. He's 19-4-1 with wins over Okami, Condit, and Sakurai. Dude is in a ton of Top 10 lists and should be.
He just signed a long term deal with EliteXC and I'm worried he's not gonna be fighting any stiff competition at WW. Do you guys think the UFC should go after buying out his contract?
How would Shields fare against some of the UFC's best?
I think he'd give any of the WW's trouble. His style, though, would probably bore some. He's sort of like a white Filho, but with whiter teeth. I don't know, Shields has been looking good lately, though, so maybe he won't be as dull as he was in the past.
I think he's finished his last 3-4 fights I think. Feel free to clarify. He's a sufficating fighter, but seems to be moving away from the stay safe jiu jitsu.
I'd put Shields at number five in the UFC welterweight division, if he were to sign on.
Honestly, I think that he would beat Fitch, Koscheck, Sanchez and all of the other guys that are in the second tier of that weight class. It's got alot to do with the matchups that he has with those guys, and I really think that he's capable of beating those guys with the right gameplan, which he seems to be good at executing, judging by his last few fights.
I think that I rank him below Hughes, GSP, Serra and Penn purely because I don't think that he matches up with those guys well. I think, realistically, Hughes is too strong, and I don't know how he'd handle GSP's standup. I think that Serra's ranking really depends on him proving that his fight with GSP was not a result of GSP undertraining, if it does, even if Serra loses, I will consider Serra a top 5 guy in that division.
As for Penn, I think he's probably the worst matchup of the bunch for Shields, but I don't know. Jake's proven very good standing and on the ground, I just don't know how he'd handle someone as versatile as BJ. I think it'd be interesting. I know that BJ's staying at 155, but I still consider him part of the UFC's upper echelon.
I think Jake is a great fighter. After beating Okami, who's a big, strong and very fundamentally sound fighter, and Condit, who's a total beast, I think that Shields is going to have a good run. I'd like to see him come to the UFC, but I think he will really help Elite XC develop a solid fan base and bring in some great fighters.
He's still a young guy, it could always happen later, too.
I actually agree with wanting him to stay with Elite for awhile. He might not be facing the top guys always but they can definetly use him to sell their promotion better. I would say hes the 2nd best fighter in the organization behind Shamrock. Also kind of curious why this is in the WEC section.
Honestly, I think that he would beat Fitch, Koscheck, Sanchez and all of the other guys that are in the second tier of that weight class.
Yes I think he's ready but I wouldn't put him in the top 5 yet. I think he'd struggle with Sanchez and Fitch... I dunno about Koscheck (i just have a hard time admitting there's anyone koscheck can beat).
I'd give him an entry fight against John Alessio, Ryo Chonan, or Drew Fickett. John and Drew are both fantastic fighters that deserve another shot in the octagon and would both serve as a good test to see whether Jake belongs there or not. Ryo I'd say the same thing for, just picked him because he's already under contract with Zuffa.
What happened to Drew Fickett anyway? He had that impressive win against K-Taro and then he was going to fight Lytle, but pulled out. Now, I don't hear anything about the guy. He's a talented fighter, no doubt, but he seems to be flakey.
Alessio is fine in the WEC, I think. While I find him to be solid, I don't think he'd add much to the UFC WW division, honestly.