Former Strikeforce champ Jake Shields moving to UFC's middleweight division
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields (27-5-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is returning to the 185-pound division.
On Tuesday's new edition of "UFC Tonight," FUEL TV's weekly UFC news program, Shield's intentions were announced.
Shields, who has competed at welterweight in his four UFC fights, plans to return to action in August, though his first opponent at 185 pounds has yet to be announced.
Bucking recent trends, Shields' decision comes on the strength of a win rather than a loss. However, the former Strikeforce titleholder is just 2-2 at welterweight in the octagon, which may have fueled his decision.
Shields, who earned Strikeforce's 185-pound title with a 2009 decision win over Jason "Mayhem" Miller, went on to defeat Dan Henderson despite being considered a sizable underdog. He vacated the title shortly after and migrated to the UFC, where he debuted with a UFC 121 win over Martin Kampmann.
Shields challenged for the UFC welterweight title in his next fight, falling short in a decision to Georges St-Pierre. He then suffered a TKO loss to Jake Ellenberger, though with the fight coming just weeks after the passing of his father, most MMA observers tend to write off the result.
Shields returned to the win column at February's UFC 144 event, welcoming former middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama to 170 pounds.
Prior to his two-fight skid, Shields had earned 15-straight wins.
