Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson set for Strikeforce
Dan Henderson recently put weeks of speculation as to who his first opponent would be since signing with Strikeforce to rest, as the former PRIDE champion and UFC veteran is expected to next face off with Jake Shields for the Strikeforce middleweight championship.
Henderson recently broke the news during ESPN.com’s “MMA Live”, stating that his next bout, “will be at 185 (pounds) against Shields.”
No news in regards to a specific time or location for the fight has yet to be announced as of this writing.
This will mark Hendo’s first bout back since crushing Michael Bisping at UFC 100 on the heels of the duo’s stint as coaches on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. During his career Henderson has notched impressive wins over the likes of Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Renzo Gracie, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort and Rich Franklin to name a few.
Shields will be looking to make his first Strikeforce defense of the 185 pound title he captured with a November decision victory over Jason “Mayhem” Miller. The Cesar Gracie trained submission specialist holds notable wins over Hayato Sakurai, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Robbie Lawler during the course of his decorated fighting career.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, along with being a regular feature writer with Ultimate MMA Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corybrady
| All posts by Cory Brady
This could either be an OMG Submission from Shields or a Brutal Hendo knockout. Or the worst exhibition of Leg Humping I’ve ever seen by either man.
WAR HENDO!
Well-Done.
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Barring a miracle, Hendo wins..
Dan’s basically Jake Shields with less focus on submissions, way better striking, and far more power..
I’m sure there will be a lot of clinch work, but I don’t see how Shields could have control in any of it.. Same goes for the ground game.. Maybe I’m underestimating Shields’ power at Middleweight.. He DOES tend to surprise me.. I just don’t think it’s POSSIBLE for him to beat Dan in any one aspect..
Well-Done.
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I’m not going to compare Shields and Hendo because there is no comparrison. Hendo is a straight brawler with extrodinary wrestling credetials that he hardly ever has to use. Shields is just a wrestler with good submissions. But when you put someone against him who has the same credentials as he does on the ground, he becomes just a wrestler. I’d pay for this card based on the almost 100% chance that Hendo is going to punch Shields head clean off his shoulds. If only Shields could build a credible stand up game, he’d be in the top five just like Hendo.
Well-Done.
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Shield NO F@CKING Leg Humping
Well-Done.
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Hey just a heads up that this bout isn’t officially signed yet. Henderson said its official but the papers haven’t been signed. I’m hoping that Shields doesn’t choose to back out but who could blame him, this is a really hard fight that I don’t think he could win unless there was a freak accident.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Weak-Sauce.
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hahaha that comparison made me laugh.
it’s like saying that Fedor and I are compareable. Except he has world class sambo, one punch KO power and a bald head.
But I could beat him in poker
Well-Done.
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Either Dan gets his belt or Jake prooves his status. I’m going with option one.
Well-Done.
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Dudes.. Dan all the way on this one. Jake hasn’t faught the level of fighter that Dan is. 99% Dan Henderson on this one,
Well-Done.
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Nighty night Shields. A Smelling Salt Special. Too one dimensional for this tilt
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I just hope Frank Shamrock isn’t doing commentary or there could be some serious insult 2 injury
Well-Done.
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Yeah he hates shields
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HENDO!!!! I hope he smashes Shields into the mat.
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I call it, Hendo puts shields head in……..hmmmmmmmm. 5th row……2nd round
God i love watching Hendersons predictable yet effective stand up haha
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Hey Jake,
Your gonna have dry humping dreams when you go nite nite
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Frank Shamrock hates everyone. We all know he has paranoid delusions like his brother Ken and he would not stand a chance against any of these fighters. Look for Shields to avoid stand up with Hendo like Brock Lesnar avoids a salad. If Hendo can stop the takedown or avoid the guard, he should be able to win. Interesting fight and I can’t wait what these fighters have to say about each other as the fight draws near.
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Not seeing this one nearly as one sided as many posters here at 5ozs. Jake Shields is a dedicated fighter, a long time pro with almost as extensive a record as Dan Henderson, and while Henderson’s resume’ contains more well known names, Shields has put a lot of good fighters down with his submission skills.
No doubt, Dan Henderson is much more of a knockout threat than Shields, and if Jake were to stand with the former Pride champion, that would more than likely play poorly for the current Strikeforce middleweight title holder. Shields is a skilled wrestler; again, maybe not as storied a career as Henderson, but strong none the less, with a serious BJJ background that should give Henderson pause.
Shields biggest task will be avoiding the knockout mistake. If he does, I think a big part of this fight will come down to body strength on the ground, and whether Shields can take Henderson down and put him on his back. Dan Henderson is known for brutal strength, so I see Shields’ challenge as manipulating Henderson into a technical mistake, allowing Shields to lock in a submission. It will not be an easy task, and I have to agree with the general senitment that Shields will be the challenger even though he holds the belt, but if he avoids trying to kickbox, and goes with his strength on the ground, I don’t think Jake Shields will be a walkover for Henderson.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Shields has no chance in this for several reasons.
Shields is a small MW, Dan is a big MW.
Shields has good submissions and wrestling, Dan has excellent submission defense and world class wrestling.
Shields has mediocre standup, Dan can kill an ox with that right hand.
This is going to be a long (probably short actually) night for Shields that ends with him leaving without his belt.
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Dan Henderson- 100%, guaranteed.
Shields should simply hope for a good showing to maintain some credibility… especially after almost getting choked out by Mayhem… SF will finish exposing Shields for his mediocracy in the fight game.
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Jake Shields needs to start lifting weights now and not stop until the fight.
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As i previously stated, Hendo is by far my pick in this fight, but I’ve learned to stop saying someone has no chance in MMA and its that facet that keeps all these great organizations (UFC WEC Dream Bellator Strikeforce) in business. No I dont see Sheilds knockin out Hendo, but I can easily see a submission. Especially if Dan takes Sheilds lightly. Mayhem went to a decision with Jacare so its understood why Jake could do no more than make dry love to Miller’s frame all night. Hendo has 3 subs losses on his record but only to the blackhouse boys. I cant wait for this
This is also a pivotal moment in MMA, if Sheilds CAN submit Hendo then its proven to the casual fan that SF has come to the table with some top caliber fighters. If Hendo rolls through Jake then it does make it look like UFC has ALL the top tier talent and SF cant hang…but it sets up The Superfight of Mousasi and Hendo. If Hendo rolls through Mousasi it looks like that point stays true but once again another Superfight…Hendo Vs, Fedor, and while I see Fedor winning that fight all day….I do see it being a good fight either notching another Sub loss to Dan…or maybe his first KO or TKO stoppage…but if he could land that big right just so cleanly on The Last Emperors chin and render him unconcious…..it would change our sport forever!
WAR Strikeforce thanks for the coming events!
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Sadly, I couldn’t beat him at poker… But I’m pretty sure that I could run faster scared, than he could angry..
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I’m with Mu_Shin on this one, not as one sided as everyone wants to make it, and it’s MMA there’s always a chance to win.
I do believe that Hendo should be a huge favourite here, but his past losses have mostly come by submission against BJJ experts.
That in itself should be enough to add intrigue for this fight.
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His past submission losses have only come from the Nogueira brothers and The Spider. I have a hard time looking at those three losses and saying that his major susceptibility is his submission game.
If Shields is going to pull out a win on this I see his best shot as out pointing Hendo into a decision, after all Hendo has 4 out of his 7 losses coming by way of decision. But I just don’t see that happening.
I’m not saying that Shields doesn’t have a prayer, this is MMA, and absolutely anything can happen. But barring an injury or an unlucky cut leading to doctor stoppage, I just don’t see Shields winning this fight.
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Dan is a brutally strong fighter, yes, but he’s also a very smart fighter..
The chances of him getting caught by Shields in a submission are very, very low..
Even with 3 submission losses, Dan has some of the best submission defense I’ve ever seen..
The choke loss to Anderson was after he’d been rocked pretty badly..
And despite being submitted by both the Nogueira’s, he showed amazing submission defense in those bouts..
So, really, the only submissions that have broken Hendo’s defense are those from BJJ legends, and one of their best students..
I think Shields is a great submissionist, but it’s practically impossible to compare him to Silva and the Nogueira’s..
Did I just break out MMAth or is that logical? Either way it makes sense to me..
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Why does everyone automatically think that Dan Henderson is going to KO Jake Shields? Shields is very underrated and he can easily beat Dan Henderson. Just because Henderson is coming over from the UFC dosen’t mean that he is going to dominate in Strikeforce and become both the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion.
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i think this fight will be alot closer than people think. they forget mayhem has fought jacare 3 times and never got controlled like he did by shields sure the mayhem shields fight was boring but if you understood the ground game their was alot of skills on display by both men. hendo granted has only been submitted by nogs and anderson buty anderson s ground game is not as good as shields so its mma any thing can and does happen
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