Jake Shields

Scouting report

Jake Shields wrestled from age nine, was a two-time junior college All-American at Cuesta College and left San Francisco State after one year to train full time at Cesar Gracie's gym. He held the EliteXC welterweight title and the Strikeforce middleweight title, and beat Dan Henderson in his Strikeforce defense in 2010. He debuted in the UFC at UFC 121 on October 23, 2010 and challenged Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title at UFC 129 on April 30, 2011.

Peak ratings

Jake Shields: a Cesar Gracie grappler who collected belts outside the UFC

Shields won the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title against Jason Miller in 2009, and he submitted Robbie Lawler with a guillotine the same year. In EliteXC he took the welterweight title from Nick Thompson in 2008 and defended it against Paul Daley. Strikeforce released him on June 30, 2010, and the UFC picked him up. His grappling résumé includes a bronze at the 2005 ADCC and a gold at the 2005 Pan American BJJ championships. His UFC run ended with his release on April 6, 2014.

Shields, rating by rating

Boxing. 70. Jake Ellenberger stopped him by TKO in round one at UFC Fight Night 25 in September 2011, the only stoppage loss of his UFC career.

Kickboxing. 64, the weakest rating he has. Hector Lombard beat him on a unanimous decision at UFC 171 in March 2014, his last fight before his release.

Wrestling. 87. He wrestled from age nine, finished second at the AAU National Freestyle Championships in high school. He beat Tyron Woodley on a split decision at UFC 161.

BJJ. 92, his best. Lawler and Thompson both lost to his guillotine, and Brian Foster and Ryan Ford lost to submissions in his World Series of Fighting run in 2014 and 2015.

Strength. 79. He beat Yoshihiro Akiyama on a unanimous decision at UFC 144 in February 2012.

Durability. 82. He took Martin Kampmann the distance at UFC 121 for a split decision, and Demian Maia the distance at UFC Fight Night 29 for another.

Cardio. 88. He went five rounds with St-Pierre at UFC 129 and lost a unanimous decision.

Fight IQ. 85. His Ed Herman fight at UFC 150 in August 2012 was recorded as a no contest.

BJJ at 92 and a long list of belts

The grappling is where the résumé is. Shields beat Henderson in a Strikeforce title defense and submitted Lawler. At the UFC he won three split decisions, over Kampmann, Woodley and Maia, which says something about how close those fights were. He also went on to win the grappling bout against Ron Keslar for the FTW middleweight title in January 2019. For a build that wants control and a choke, nothing else on the board is better.

Kickboxing at 64 and a style that critics disliked

His pressure style drew the label lay-and-pray from critics. St-Pierre kept the title at UFC 129 on a unanimous decision. Ellenberger and Lombard both beat him in the cage. After the UFC he lost to Rousimar Palhares by kimura in August 2015 and to Jon Fitch for the WSOF title on December 31, 2016. In PFL he lost twice to Ray Cooper III, both by TKO. A striker in another slot covers the gap.

Ratings shown are my own estimates, made with AI assistance and informed by how Jake Shields is regarded by the MMA community. They are unofficial and do not constitute an assessment of Jake Shields's real-world abilities. How the ratings are made. See the disclaimer below. Ratings and write-ups by Haaris A. Last reviewed 2026-09-30; spot an error? Tell us. Read our editorial standards.