# Jake Shields VS Ryan Ford -World Series Of Fighting 14



## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

> Jake Shields is heading to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to face hometown fighter Ryan Ford at World Series of Fighting 14, according Top MMA News‘ sources close to the fight. The event will be held on October 11th at the Northlands Expo Centre and will be live on NBC Sports Network.
> 
> Facing Ford in front of his rabid hometown crowd will be not be an issue for Jake Shields, who headlined UFC 129 in Toronto in front of 55,000 Georges St-Pierre backers. Shields (29-7), who will be making his first appearance for the World Series of Fighting, is a former Strikeforce and EliteXC champion and a UFC Welterweight title contender. Shields has gone 3-1-1 in his last five fights with wins over Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. He lost a decision to Hector Lombard in his last UFC appearance.
> 
> ...


Source -----> http://topmmanews.com/2014/08/04/jake-shields-heads-north-to-fight-ryan-ford-at-wsof-14/




I'm psyched for this main event Ryan Ford is most definitely a solid opponent. I've been watching him compete for a few years. 

Very good opponent for Jake Shields. At this point I'd really like to see the winner skip town and head over to Bellator to beef up that division.

Either way I'm watching this scrap for sure.


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## slapshot (May 4, 2007)

War Shields!


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

slapshot said:


> War Shields!


All day. 

His last 3 wins are over Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Sexyama.... the fact that he's fighting in WSOF and guys WAYYYYY beneath his calibur are still in the UFC is disgusting IMO.

He would still beat 90% of the UFC WW divison.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah, I think Dana White has gotten into a bad habit of cutting veterans prematurely. Shields is by no means washed up considering Lombard is no slouch. I can see him becoming the champion.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

kantowrestler said:


> Yeah, I think Dana White has gotten into a bad habit of cutting veterans prematurely. Shields is by no means washed up considering Lombard is no slouch. I can see him becoming the champion.



It was the strangest situation he was in.... he had beaten 3 of the 4 top 5ers at the time... and had he put a clinic on Lombard he was being considered for another title shot.

I have never seen a fighters career hang on a win loss where a dominant victory gets him his title fight or a loss gets him cut from the organization.

That entire setup was a pressure cooker for Shields. IMO Dana handled that as poorly as I've ever seen a fighter treated.

If it was the money they could have worked that out seeing as to he's competing in WSOF now and they are no where near Zuffas pay days.

Ultimatly I like seeing him pitted against Ford. Quality opponent, Ford is no slouch and it looks like Shields will continue to compete against the biggest names NOT in the UFC and seek out the toughest fights.

Hopefully Coker brings him to Bellator. He'd roll on Lima IMO.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

The thing is, people complain about both sides.

When Shields and Fitch were fighting, EVERYONE cited how boring the fight was going to be, how much they didnt want to watch it and how awful their strategies were.

Now that both got cut, people are like "Well that's bullshit, they were highly talented fighters and shouldn't be cut".

As awful as I found both to be, I prefer legitimacy to ratings. If Shields can beat Hendricks, then he should be the champion, boring or not.

I kind of hope they invite him back and Shields tells them to suk a dik. Him, Fitch and especially Okami getting cut are still sour with me and it'd be good to see them offer either a new champion to this promotion or at the very least a great level of opposition.

Btw, I just happened to watch the Justin Gaethje Vs Nick Newell fight. Jesus christ Newell is an absolute freak of nature. The stoppage was bullshit and he landed some heavy hits into Gaethje in the first round. He'll never be signed to UFC, and personally I'm in the category of not really liking to see him fight, but you can't deny that WSOF were genius to give this guy a shot.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

ClydebankBlitz said:


> I prefer legitimacy to ratings.


That pretty much sums up my argument on those cuts... The big show is simply that... a show. Look what they did with Brock Lesnar.... 

They had no HW division... so they brought him in, marketed him.... fed Heath Herring to him... BTW HH was like 13-13 or something repulsive like that..... Gave him Frank Mir who he lost to by the way.... Frank was 2-2 and had only fought 4 times in almost 3 years and then they gave him a damn near 50 year old Randy Couture who was 40lbs lighter than him.....

New HW Champion and look at what a beast he is!! All the while Strikeforce had guys like DC, Werdum, Fedor, Kharitonov, Barnett, Bigfoot, Overeem, and the likes.... I heard over and over again on these forums how Brock would "Smash" those guys..... and Strikeforce was a "feeder" organization and "Lesser competition"...

Brock was the biggest manufactured hype job I have ever seen and it was pretty much around that time that I knew MMA on the bigger landscape was taking a turn for the worse.... goes back to your "legitimacy to ratings" comment.....

Dana White Keeps guys like Diego Sanchez in the spotlight and dumps Fitch/Shields/Okami and the likes..... all the while people are eating it up. 



ClydebankBlitz said:


> I kind of hope they invite him back and Shields tells them to suk a dik. Him, Fitch and especially Okami getting cut are still sour with me and it'd be good to see them offer either a new champion to this promotion or at the very least a great level of opposition.


This.... except I'd actually love to see him back in the UFC to prove a point. Jake would staple himself at top 5 and make another run at the WW title... we're talking about a guy who finished Robbie Lawler in the first round before signing to the UFC....





ClydebankBlitz said:


> Btw, I just happened to watch the Justin Gaethje Vs Nick Newell fight. Jesus christ Newell is an absolute freak of nature. The stoppage was bullshit and he landed some heavy hits into Gaethje in the first round. He'll never be signed to UFC, and personally I'm in the category of not really liking to see him fight, but you can't deny that WSOF were genius to give this guy a shot.


Newell is so damn physically strong and talented it's unhuman.... I don't like seeing him fight with that situation either but I'll be damned if he's not one tough and dangerous SOB... He more than holds his own.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

I want to quote you and agree...but I can't about Lesnar.

Herring was going win loss, but two of those losses were to Big Nog after all.

At 1-1 going up against a guy at 28-14 isn't exactly "feeding someone to you".

Also, Frank Mir was considered one of the best not too long before Lesnar got thrown in there with him (in his SECOND ever professional fight). Who fights Frank Mir when they are 1-0? Then at 2-1 Lesnar takes on Hall of Fame Randy Couture? Sure Couture was old but it's not like Couture didn't beat Brandon Vera, a young up and comer not long after that fight.

Lesnar got thrown in the deep end and swam with the sharks. For anyone at 4-1 to fight a guy at 12-0 with 12 first round finishes and 5 straight knockouts....you can't say they were a hypejob imo. Lesnar didn't have the skills to get to where he was, but he was thrown in the deep end and against all odds came out with victories over great fighters in Mir, Couture and Carwin.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

ClydebankBlitz said:


> I want to quote you and agree...but I can't about Lesnar.
> 
> Herring was going win loss, but two of those losses were to Big Nog after all.
> 
> ...




I can't give Mir the credibility there... he got in his accident... was out for 2 years... comes back.. loses via knock out in the first round, next fight he wins in a 3 round decision, then he loses horribly in the first round again to Vera, comes back and beats Hardonk..... he was nothing if not incredibly inconsistent at that point....

Heath Herring.... now this one is off the hook. 
Heath Herring lost 3 quarters of the fights he was ever in.... he was the most horribly over rated HW fighter I have ever seen.... he literally beat NOBODY. Well okay he beat Evan Tanner (a natural middleweight). I was actually pretty shocked that the UFC signed that guy... probably was a PRIDE acquisition now that I think about it.... but holy cow what the heck did Herring ever do to show that he was any where near a threat to the UFC title.... Herring never did anything great.

Randy Couture.... man he was old when he fought Brock. 

He was so much smaller too.. the fight literally looked like two different generations and weight classes when they were going at it... what was Randy?? 48 when he fought Lesnar.... that's just uncivilized. 

Now Shane Carwin.... that's a different story. WATCH THAT FIGHT. Watch it and tell me how many unanswered shots he took from Shane.... 30?? 40?? Honestly Brock got his ass handed to him... he did not intelligently defend himself he got beat down... horribly.

Answer this question. Honestly. How many unanswered punches should be landed on an opponent before a ref stops the fight?? Brock wasn't working.. he wasn't intelligently defending himself... he was literally eating punches..

Shane landed so many unanswered punches in his barrages it was stupendous... gassed himself out horribly in the process. Brock got finished there.

Then next round Shane came out and layed on his back and let Brock choke him. He gift wrapped that choke worse than I have ever seen done in any MMA fight. Now I'm not going to say that it was staged because I hate MMA Conspiracy theorists.... but if ever there was one that I doubted, it was that one. The ref should have stopped that fight... Shane giftwrapped that choke.

Brock Lesnar skated by the skin of his sack in that fight.

Either way Brock IMO was never a great MMA fighter. When he fought real competition it was either controversial or he got mauled.

How would he have stacked up against the other active HWs in the world at that time.....??? 

Cain, JDS, Werdum, Daniel Cormier, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Sergi Kharitonov, Bigfoot Silva, Alastair Overeem...??

If you have him beating even 3 of those guys (and I don't) that would still put him 7 out of those 10.

IMO Brock was all Zuffa hype. But that's just an opinion. And actually a pet peeve of mine.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

_RIVAL_ said:


> I can't give Mir the credibility there... he got in his accident... was out for 2 years... comes back.. loses via knock out in the first round, next fight he wins in a 3 round decision, then he loses horribly in the first round again to Vera, comes back and beats Hardonk..... he was nothing if not incredibly inconsistent at that point....
> 
> Heath Herring.... now this one is off the hook.
> Heath Herring lost 3 quarters of the fights he was ever in.... he was the most horribly over rated HW fighter I have ever seen.... he literally beat NOBODY. Well okay he beat Evan Tanner (a natural middleweight). I was actually pretty shocked that the UFC signed that guy... probably was a PRIDE acquisition now that I think about it.... but holy cow what the heck did Herring ever do to show that he was any where near a threat to the UFC title.... Herring never did anything great.
> ...


Mir has went 4-2, beating Big Nog by KO, Brock Lesnar by Submission, Hardonk by Submission and whoever the hell Dan Christiansen is by Decision. He lost to Marcio Cruz after a long lay off, fair enough, and at the time Brandon Vera was 7-0 with 3 UFC wins and 3 stoppages. It's not like Vera was a weak opponent for anyone then.

Herring beat Cheick Kongo the fight before he faced Brock, and Kongo recently competed for the Bellator title (after really only getting worse since back then). You're right that he never really beat anyone, and I didn't know he actually WAS rated, but for a 1-1 guy to face a 28-14 guy and dominate him is impressive really regardless of who each of the people are.

He was old, sure, but he was the UFC Champion, coming off of beating Tim Sylvia (meh) and stopping Gonzaga (which in any timeline is a solid enough cap to your collection). His 5 year run going into the Lesnar fight was 6-3, defeating Liddell, Ortiz and Belfort along the way, and losing to Liddell and Belfort in return. Still though. You're holding Brock to the level as if he was a hall of famer. This was a 3-1 ROOKIE stepping in there with a Hall of Famer in UFC, who was also the current Heavyweight Champion.

I never got the argument that Brock should have been stopped. He WON the fine. If you are capable of recovering and winning the fight, then it should NEVER be stopped. The reason fights are stopped is because the guy has NO way of recovering, as in the opponent will be punching him until he dies or gets knocked out. Brock even smiled coming out for the second round. He got his ass handed to him by a dude who handed every opponent he'd ever faced their asses....and Brock survived. But not only did he survive, his opponent was so devoid of energy that Brock took the fight. Specifically in your title fight, unless you go limp, you're in the fight.

I don't have him really being any of those (Haven't actually seen Sergei fight, probably have him beating Bigfoot but it's close as hell). I'm not saying by any means that Brock is up there in the greats. Unlike most, I tribute NONE of his downfall to his illness. Who was he fighting? Cain? Best or second best HW of all time. Overeem? Fuknuggetry aside he's one of the most skillful HWs in the world. I suppose Carwin, whom as I said was 12-0 with 12 first round finishes.

I don't think Brock was a "hypejob". If the UFC was truly feeding him opponents, he wouldn't have faced a former heavyweight champion, the current heavyweight champion, a guy with like 40 fights, a guy who had stopped every single person he ever faced etc. etc. You have to consider Brock as a rookie. You're holding him to championship standards because he won it. Would you really expect any 5-1 guy to EVER beat Cain Velasquez? Fedor at 5-1 gets mauled even worse than Brock did. Brock went in there with absolutely no MMA experience, and took on people we all know and are able to talk about.

Here are the first 8 opponents of the 4 top ranked guys all time in UFC from my other thread.

GSP
Ivan Menjivar- 4-0
Justin Bruckmann - 4-1
Travis Galbraith - 5-1
Thomas Denny - 10-9
Pete Spratt - 12-6
Karo Parisyan - 10-2
Jay Hieron - 4-0
Matt Hughes - 37-4 [Current UFC Welterweight Champion]

Anderson Silva
Raimundo Pinheiro - 1-1
Fabrício Camões - 1-0
Luiz Azeredo - 2-1
Jose Barreto - 0-0
Claudionor Fontinelle - 5-4-1
Tetsuji Kato - 13-2
Israel Albuquerque - 0-2
Hayato Sakurai - 18-0-2

Fedor Emelianenko
Martin Lazarov - 0-0
Levon Lagvilava - 1-2
Hiroya Takada - 0-0
Ricardo Arona - 2-2
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - 19-10-2
Mihaiil Apostolov - 0-0
Kerry Schall - 5-2
Renato Sobral - 19-2

Jon Jones
Brad Bernard - 0-1
Carlos Eduardo - 2-1
Anthony Pina - 0-0
Ryan Verrett - 1-3
Parker Porter - 2-0
Moyses Gabin - 2-1
Andre Gusmao - 5-0
Stephan Bonnar - 12-4

Brock Lesnar
Min Soo Kim - 2-5
Frank Mir - 11-3 [Former UFC Heavyweight Champ]
Heath Herring - 28-13
Randy Couture - 16-8 [2x UFC Heavyweight Champ {Current}, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champ, Hall of Famer]
Frank Mir - 12-3
Shane Carwin - 12-0
Cain Velasquez - 8-0
Alistair Overeem - 35-11 [Former Strikeforce & Dream Heavyweight Champ {Kind of current both}]

To say Brock was a hype job, even though he was successful against the level he was, is a big jump. GSP's opponent level was actually very impressive, but imo still not comparable to Brock's.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

ClydebankBlitz said:


> Mir has went 4-2, beating Big Nog by KO, Brock Lesnar by Submission, Hardonk by Submission and whoever the hell Dan Christiansen is by Decision. He lost to Marcio Cruz after a long lay off, fair enough, and at the time Brandon Vera was 7-0 with 3 UFC wins and 3 stoppages. It's not like Vera was a weak opponent for anyone then.
> 
> Herring beat Cheick Kongo the fight before he faced Brock, and Kongo recently competed for the Bellator title (after really only getting worse since back then). You're right that he never really beat anyone, and I didn't know he actually WAS rated, but for a 1-1 guy to face a 28-14 guy and dominate him is impressive really regardless of who each of the people are.
> 
> ...



I've had the same opinion on this topic since it was current... too many flaws and inconsistancies when it comes to the Brock story line....

Good god I just hope they never induct him..


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

If they induct him, it's mainly for impact. Isn't Royce inducted? He probably had less fights than Brock, and in terms of establishing the sport as a brand name, probably a much lesser impact.

Brock might well be the most successful 8 fight competitor of all time. It's unfortunate that he didn't join when he was a bit younger, or that he didn't really have the time to establish his skills to a peak level before having to get out of there.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

I personally don't think Brock Lesnar deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He was a champion but several others who are actually in the Hall of Fame deserve to be in there. Minus Stephen Bonnar in my opinion.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Yeah I never understood the Stephan Bonnar thing..


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Well the Stephen Bonnar thing is similar Dana White's comment that the whole season one cast belongs in the Hall of Fame. I can understand that for guys like Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian but Lodune Sincade? Maybe half the cast belongs but that's it.


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

It was a definite msg to cut Okami, Fitch, Shields, Volkmann, and anybody else who fights in a risk adverse fashion. So the moment they lose one or two they're out. Imagine if every fight card had those style of fights...the sport would lose interest. Even for enthusiasts we need to see action.

Out of all those I liked Shields though. Hope he does well. It is better for the sport to have other orgs otherwise a lot more fighters would have to choose a new career.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Well there are always going to be other organizations besides the UFC. They may not be able to pay well or get the best fighters but they will be there. Honestly if Shields becomes champion that's an accomplishment.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

kantowrestler said:


> Well there are always going to be other organizations besides the UFC. They may not be able to pay well or get the best fighters but they will be there. Honestly if Shields becomes champion that's an accomplishment.


I think he will. He's elite. He had a couple of losses and got cut... he was literally on the cusp of a title shot with a win over Lombard.

Mike freakin Pyle is still in the UFC mix trying to break even the top 10 and Shields is out in the cold even though Shields choked Mike Pyle out in the first round when they fought.

Jake Shields track record is legendary.... he's defeated Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley, Dan Henderson, Carlos Condit, Damian Maia, Sexiyama, Paul Daley, Martin Kampmann, Mike Pyle, Yushin Okami, Sakurai, Kikuchi, Mayhem Miller and a slew of other competition that even though were not ranked were very tough fighters.... guys like Ryan Ford here. Jake deserves to be competing with the very best..... but they would rather keep guys like Diego Sanchez and Tom Lawlor...

The politics behind why they cut and keep fighters is all Dana White. The top 10 ranked fighters is ridiculous as a system the way they use it. And the UFC does not have all of the Best fighters in the world. They just really want to put on a good show.

They have sacrificed one to achieve the other.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah, there honestly used to be a time when Dana White kept the best in the world regardless of style. The Fox deal is what changed things. He wants ratings and as a result guys like Shields have been sent to a still tough but not top talent pool.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Bump, we're getting closer to this fight. Shields collecting Ryan Fords scalp is impressive if he can pull it off... Ford is a beast under the radar.

Even though I'm not a fan of the way Dana has been running the UFC as of late I'd love to see Jake back in the octagon. He's got unfinished business there.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Against whom namely?


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

kantowrestler said:


> Against whom namely?


Against the entire division. Jake is one of the best WWs in the world. 

At one pont in time he was submitting everybody that he fought. He's not on some sick ass losing streak he's literally still winning.

In the post fight presser Hector Lombard said that Jake Shields is so strong that it's "unhuman". That's coming from a guy who ragdolls fighters..

Jake's not done... hell a couple of impressive finishes and he's knocking on Zuffas door again.

I'd almost bet the farm if he ever crossed paths with Askren in a fight and stopped him Dana would roll out the red carpet for him again.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

I don't think his time on The Ultimate Fighter 20 is hurting his profile either. Definitely do agree he will probably make it back. Dana's cuts of veterans is a little premature.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Shields could easily still compete with most of the top 10 in the UFC,him being cut was just silly.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

So was Okami in my opinion cause he lost once and got let go even though it was his first loss in quite a few fights. I'm not sure what kind of message Dana White is trying to send. However, considering a statement like McGregor deserves a title shot I think his strange logic is getting the best of him.


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## Stun Gun (Oct 24, 2012)

Okami, Fitch, Shields all should still be in the UFC. Sure they were not the most exciting guys to the causals, and they were getting paid a fair amount, but they're still top talent


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

While I disagree with Fitch getting cut I can understand why. Okami and Shields were questionable at best and just rediculous at worst. Unless they face a legitimate up and comer they both will dominant the weak fields that are in the WSOF divisions.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

This weekend it's going down, my boy Shields back in action.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah, it should be great to see him back in action. Hopefully he can prove Dana White wrong in cutting him.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

A lot of people don't know that Ryan Ford is the current WSOF Canadian WW champion.

As well as the AFC WW champion. 

Jake can literally with a victory over Ford and one over the winner of Fitch/Palhares hold two separate and current WW championship titles in the WSOF.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

I thought technically the AFC WW Championship was abandoned for the WSOF Canadian Championship. Also I'm not sure they are making this a Canadian title fight. Wouldn't make sense.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

kantowrestler said:


> I thought technically the AFC WW Championship was abandoned for the WSOF Canadian Championship. Also I'm not sure they are making this a Canadian title fight. Wouldn't make sense.


I honestly don't like the fact that WSOF has a Canadian WW championship title and a WW championship title... fogs up the waters if you ask me......

This fight is in Canada.... so I guess in some odd way it makes sense... Is WSOF officially putting Fords Canadian title on the line here?


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah, I agree that creating regional titles in a promotion waters down the world title. Reminds me of Strikeforces US titles and BAMMAs British titles. They are pretty much pointless.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

And that's how it's done.



Jake gave that guy a short night.


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## TheNinja (Dec 10, 2008)

Ryan Ford just met one of worlds best WW and got schooled:thumbsup:


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## LizaG (May 12, 2008)

Ryan Ford has been going online claiming his arm was broken one week out from the fight, and only took the fight as he has a family to feed.

Either that's a lie, or the commish are a shady bunch and cleared him to fight anyway...I'm guessing the former.


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

Ryan Ford also got submitted by David Hulett in one round (3 and a half minutes quicker than Shields subbed him). Let's no blow the abilities of Shield out of the water because he's subbing guys he should be subbing really quickly. I'd like to see Shields go to Bellator and fight Douglas Lima or something (does he train with Askren, if not, imagine that fight....).


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Jake Shields and Ben Askren are teammates of TUF coaches Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis respetively. So that answer is no they don't train together. Also Shields wants back into the UFC and won't go to Bellator as a result.


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## slapshot (May 4, 2007)

Are you really attempting to discredit Jakes grappling and submission skills because of who he's fighting?


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## RangerClydeTheBlue (Jul 11, 2012)

kantowrestler said:


> Jake Shields and Ben Askren are teammates of TUF coaches Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis respetively. So that answer is no they don't train together. Also Shields wants back into the UFC and won't go to Bellator as a result.


Easy to put on. Shields earns his UFC spot right away if he beats Askren. Insane fight.



slapshot said:


> Are you really attempting to discredit Jakes grappling and submission skills because of who he's fighting?


I'm just saying that you can't pretend it's impressive to beat a guy you SHOULD beat easily. Cormier isn't a beast because of the Pat Cummings fight.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)




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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Man monkeys have huge nuts.


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