Sherdog’s Top 10: Fighters Outside the UFC

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7. Jake Shields
Record: 31-7-1
Organization: World Series of Fighting

Shields is one of the sport’s true veterans, with experience in every promotion from Shooto, Pancrase and Rumble on the Rock to Strikeforce and the UFC. He holds wins over several generations of top fighters, including Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, Dan Henderson, Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and current UFC champion Robbie Lawler, to name only a few.

Shields’ style, particularly against elite competition, is not aesthetically pleasing to most fans. He remains a grinding wrestle-grappler who relies on chain wrestling and top position pressure to win fights, and his pillow-fisted, volume-oriented striking style has won him few admirers in fights where he fails to get it to the mat. Make no mistake, however, Shields is still an elite fighter. His only losses in the last decade have been to Olympic judoka Hector Lombard, the brick-fisted Jake Ellenberger at the height of his run and god-like welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

Following his release from the UFC, Shields has gotten himself back on track with a pair of wins under the World Series of Fighting banner, submitting Ryan Ford and Brian Foster in a little over seven minutes combined. He faces Rousimar Palhares in one of the very best fights that can be made outside the UFC on Aug. 1.

Number 6 » While he might not have lived up to the sky-high expectations, he is still an incredibly rare commodity: a consensus top-10 light heavyweight with real wrestling chops who is under the age of 35. Even if he were not still in his prime, he would be worth his weight in gold, and there is still plenty of time left for him to improve and perhaps live up to his hype.