Jake Shields Would "Love an Opportunity" To Fight Anderson Silva

The last time we saw Jake Shields in the Octagon, Jake Ellenberger ended his night in a mere 53 seconds. Prior to the loss to “The Juggernaut,” he dropped a unanimous decision to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129.

Shields will face Yoshihiro Akiyama in his next bout, which will take place on February 26 in Saitama, Japan. While the Akiyama fight is at welterweight, Shields may very well be considering a UFC future at middleweight, months ahead of that UFC 144 battle.

While a loss against Akiyama would give Shields the dreaded three straight defeats in the UFC, it seems unlikely that he would be released, as he remains a viable “name” for the promotion. His move to middleweight would not be spurred on by the thought that he can’t compete at the welterweight level, but instead it would most likely be brought on by the fact that his training partner and friend Nick Diaz could very well become the interim UFC welterweight champion.

Diaz will face Carlos Condit on February 4 in the main event of UFC 143. With welterweight champion St-Pierre on the shelf due to recent ACL surgery, the UFC has elected to award the winner of the Diaz versus Condit fight the interim title while St-Pierre heals. If Diaz does capture the crown, the two fighters have made it very clear that they would never want to face each other in a non-training environment.

If Shields does move to middleweight, he would welcome a shot at the 185-pound champion, Anderson Silva.

“That’s a fight I’ve wanted for a long time,” Shields told MMAFightCorner.com. “Anderson’s a phenomenal fighter, one of the best of all time, but I just think stylistically the guys that match up best against him are wrestlers with good jiu-jitsu.

"Chael did great with him until he got caught in a triangle right at the end. His worst matchup’s against good wrestlers and jiu-jitsu, and it’s just he’s a great matchup. Obviously it wouldn’t be an easy fight because I think he has the best standup in the sport, but that’s a fight I would love an opportunity to do.”

Obviously, a number things have to fall in line for Shields to make that move to middleweight, but if they do, Shields would gladly add his name to the growing list of fighters that want a shot at the man that has never lost inside the Octagon, Silva.