Jake Shields doesn’t deserve a title shot
Why is Jake Shields still getting a shot at the welterweight title? I don’t care how difficult the weight cut was for the former Strikeforce middleweight champ (something like 20 pounds in one day), the much-vaunted grappler looked less-than-impressive in his split-decision win over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121.
More accurately, Kampmann looked really good – peppering Shields with strikes, holding him at bay, defending takedowns, avoiding damage and escaping being mounted when he was taken down, getting back to his feet – until the third round when Kampmann decided to play Shields’ game and tried to beat him on the ground. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.
So now we’re stuck with Shields vs. Georges St. Pierre. Yes, I know GSP still has Josh Koscheck ahead of him but that’s more of a formality than a fight. And then it’s Shields and GSP and that’ll be like watching two socks in a clothes dryer. I’d much rather see Shields vs. Jon Fitch, who was also promised a title shot after beating Thiago Alves but then UFC prez Dana White makes promises like he’s running for public office. Hell, I’d rather see Shields vs. Koscheck. At least Koscheck promises a bar fight – haymakers, eye pokes and groin shots.
3 comments
I think Kampmann is the most overated mma fighter in the world and when I watched this fight I thought wow he beat Shields 29-28. The 1st judge agreed with me but the other 2 were fools, especially the tool who went 30-27 Shields. Someone where must have a recording of the judges and what they’re doing during the fights. How could anyboy in their right mind call 30-27 Shields?
Shields does not deserve the title shot at all and I love the idea vs Fitch although that will be an easy contender for most boring fight of the year.
Lastly, though I think GSP is going to beat Koscheck, it is not a formality. That’s what everyone said about Matt Serra and look what happened.
No, GSP/Kos is not a foregone conclusion, but as I mentioned in come comments on the FW Facebook page, I don’t see GSP losing unless he loses focus and lets himself get sucked into a wild stand-up exchange and gets caught. Could happen, but not very likely. As for Shields/Kampmann, I’m still trying to decide if Kampmann made Shields look better than he is or if Shields made Kampmann look better. And yes, I know they both looked horrible. Agreed about the judging. It wouldn’t have surprised me if Kampmann had won. I wish he had; he’s at least more entertaining to watch fight than Shields or Fitch.
Why?
Because he was holding the Strikeforce belt and has 15 wins in a row.
This somehow equals undeserving? Because he wasn’t at his best after a major weight cut?
Moreover, short of an upset or GSP changing his fighting style, GSP fights don’t hold much promise for being highly entertaining.
GSP just holds clinics on how to shut a fella down.
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