The former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields has been given his first UFC opponent and it will be at 170 lbs.. There were rumors of people saying that he was forced to go down to 185 lbs. by his camp, while others were saying that he was scared of someday clashing with current UFC middleweight champ Anderson Spider.
Shields told us that he certainly wasn’t ducking anyone, he simply took the first fight that was offered to him by the UFC. He is now scheduled to make his debut against Martin Kampmann on October 23rd at UFC 121. It is still unknown whether or not this bout will be for a no.1 contender spot in the welterweight division. If it is, the winner between Shields vs Kampmann will face the winner of Georges St Pierre vs Josh Koscheck for the 170-pound belt.
From Jake Shields:
“I was pretty undecided the whole time. I just wanted big fights, and I know GSP is tied up with the Koscheck fight, so I was thinking maybe going to 85 since my weight’s already up. [The UFC] called and asked if I wanted (Martin Kampmann) at 70 and I said sure. They didn’t give me any pressure; they gave me the option. Some people were saying I was forced to go down, which certainly wasn’t the case. They said I could fight at either weight, but they offered me a fight at 70, and I was like I might as well jump and take it. I’m not really sure if this is going to be a number one contender’s fight or not, it hasn’t been mentioned to me, but there’s a good chance if I go out there and look really good doing it, it’s definitely a possibility.”
