Manager: Demian Maia Wants to Fight Jake Shields at 185

[WrestlingSmarks News]

Jake Shields hasn't had the best year so far inside the cage, and there has been some minor speculation that he might like to return to middleweight after two losses in a row at welterweight. While there's no shame at all in losing to Georges St. Pierre and Jake Ellenberger, especially with the fact that he had to deal with the death of his manager and father going into the second fight, it is believed the former Strikeforce middleweight champion might be a better fit up at 185. If that is the case, Demian Maia's manager Eduardo Alonzo told Tatame that he wants his fighter to get the first crack at Shields:

"It’s a personal desire, but I guess it’d be a good fight, an interesting challenge for Demian. For his record and skills as a fighter, I’m guessing it’d be interesting", said the manager to TATAME.

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"Fighting top 10 guys is always interesting", says Alonso, explaining his "choice". "Since he once was a champion in Strikeforce in this weight class and has great wins over top athletes like Dan Henderson, and because he likes to fight on the ground, I believe it’d be a great match-up against Demian".

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He also goes onto say that he'd like Maia to fight in January or February. While I personally see Shields returning to 185 as a longshot, a bout with Maia would be awesome. I think he has a bunch of unfinished business at welterweight though and despite his quick loss to Ellenberger, he's still a top-5 talent at 170 and can beat almost anyone in the division on any given night. If they want to give Carlos Condit a stellar fight on the Super Bowl card in February, a rematch with Shields would be a main candidate in my eyes.