Just over three years and 8 fights later, with a record of 4-3-1 (with the no contest being a win for Shields if he didn’t pop for an illegal substance), Shields is gone. Some say he was released, but to my knowledge he didn’t have any fights left on his contract. On the heels of his one-sided loss to Hector Lombard, Shields actually hadn’t lost in years, so this, in a way, is even worse than the Fitch release. Maybe Shields will go to WSOF and have a series of incredible fights? Or maybe he’ll go to ONE FC and fight Ben Askren a few times. I suppose I’m down for any scenario.
The bummer that hangs like a cloud over the UFC once again is the fact that they’ve ridded themselves of yet another top ten fighter, one who was absolutely a fantastic gatekeeper for the welterweight division. Sure, most people would rather watch Fedor ride shirtless on horseback through the Russian countryside than an organized fight featuring Jake Shields, but different strokes for different folks. Shields’ fight against Maia was badass, I don’t care what you say.
