Former UFC 155lb & 170lb champion BJ Penn (16-7-2) has called out fellow elite BJJ black belt and Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu product Jake Shields (26-5-1) for a Welterweight showdown. "The Prodigy" has gone 1-0-1 in his last two bouts returning to the division he won his first UFC title in. In his return to the Welterweight division, Penn ended his trilogy with fellow former champ Matt Hughes with a 21-second KO that silenced all critics who claimed he had lost his way after being beaten twice in losing and trying to reclaim his Lightweight title. His second and most recent bout in his Welterweight return met with disappointment after he the judges saw it as a draw between him and longtime contender Jon Fitch in a bout that many saw The Prodigy winning with 2-out of-3 rounds. Penn revealed in the post-fight in-cage interview that he felt he might have lost the fight and was considering retirement if the judges had agreed. After a rematch with Fitch fell through with both being forced off UFC132: Cruz vs Faber 2, many fans made it clear that they were not so interested in this rematch and preferred a different opponent.
Jake Shields had been on an undefeated streak for over five years that saw him win a Rumble on the Rock tournament with wins over fellow Welterweight contender Carlos Condit and Middleweight contender Yushin Okami, become the only EliteXC Welterweight champ, and win the Strikeforce Middleweight title. That streak came to an end in the main event of UFC 129: St. Pierre vs Shields when he lost a Unanimous Decision to still reigning Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, but in the process snapped the champion's streak of collectively winning every round in his title defenses on every judges scorecards. After falling short of victory, Shields is intent on getting back to a title shot as soon as he can as well as getting a rematch with St. Pierre. Since coming into the UFC, Shields has been called out by multiple veterans in the promotion with include Condit who wants a rematch, Mike Pyle who also wants a rematch, and Jake Ellenberger who has been climbing strong in the ranks. While fighting in promotions outside the UFC and building his then undefeated streak, Shields himself had called out the elite of the promotion's 170lb division that included Penn and St. Pierre. Shields has responded to Penn's challenge and has even made the suggestion that it be the first non-title five-round bout in the UFC.
While Penn is years ahead of Shields in striking experience and possesses the more dangerous arsenal of strikes, the true excitement that a bout between these two comes from their elite grappling background. Penn is widely recognized as one of the fastest practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to have earned a black belt in the very discipline whose founding family founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Training under masters Ralph Gracie and then Andre Pederneiras, Penn can be considered a true student of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Shields began his grappling with amateur wrestling at a young age that defined his intense drive to win and led him to train in BJJ under Cesar Gracie to and eventually earn his black belt. With a strong base in wrestling and combined with his elite BJJ skills, Shields created a focus on American Jiu-Jitsu that emphasizes on no-gi grappling more attuned to MMA and everyday self-defense. Both Penn and Shields are well known for their dangerous grappling skills. Penn is has more of an aggressive style working fast on the ground that he adds strong strikes to pick at his opponents to force them to give up positions. Shields has his own aggressive style where his level of grappling has sometimes already intimidated his opponents to the point where they simply wait for him to shoot in. After getting the takedown, Shields is more patient taking his time on the ground at some points to sometimes wait for his opponent to make a move that he can exploit and sink on a submission. The level of intensity that these two former champions would bring to the cage would be tremendous as this would possibly turn into a pure grappling match with either looking to make a statement to prove who is the better at their own specialty.
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