Jake Shields (born January 9, 1979 ) is an American mixed martial artist, currently fighting at 170 lbs (77 kg). He is the Rumble on the Rock 175 lb (79 kg) champion. He is the Elite XC Welter Weight Champion. He is also the former Shooto World Champion. He has trained extensively with Cesar Gracie and Dave Terrell, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz and coaches a team of MMA fighter including top ranked light weight Gilbert Melendez.
Biography
Jake Shields was born January 9, 1979. He was raised near Mountain Ranch, California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Jake is a life-long vegetarian. He was home schooled up to junior high. He and his two older brothers grew up at the end of a dirt road on the rim of the Jesus Maria Canyon. Their nearest friends were a 45 minute hike down one side of the canyon and up the other. Their activities included mountain biking, wild caving, snowboarding, clearing brush, bucking firewood, climbing mountains, exploring the high country, and wrestling.
Jake began amateur wrestling at age nine. He has competed in over 600 folk, freestyle, and submission wrestling matches. Jake was a four year varsity wrestler and state qualifier at Calaveras High School, finished 2nd place at the Amateur Athletic Union National Freestyle Championships, qualified for U.S.A./ Fila Nationals & World Team Trials in both the junior & university men's divisions. He is also a two time All American wrestler from Cuesta College. In September 1999, Jake began his MMA training by joining Chuck Liddell's SLO Kickboxing Academy. Within a few weeks he fought his first fight, filling in for an injured teammate at 185 lbs. In 2001 Jake decided he wanted to make a career of mixed martial arts and began fighting at his natural weight of 170 lbs (77 kg).
In the summer of 2001 Jake received a wrestling scholarship to SF State. At that time he began training with the Cesar Gracie Fight Team, resulting in a dramatic improvement in his jiu jitsu. He is a three time Grapplers Quest Advance Champion, Pan American Games Jiu Jitsu Champion, Pan Am Open Advance Submission Champion, Gracie Open Superfight Champion, and finished 3rd place at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 2005. He continued to improve on the kickboxing skills he picked up with Chuck Liddell, by cross-training with the professional Muay Thai kickboxing team at the Fairtex combat Academy, training with Muay Thai Champions Jongsanan Fairtex and Alex Gong. He was awarded the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by Cesar Gracie in February of 2007.
Among his victories are wins over Hayato Sakurai, Akira Kikuchi, Dave Menne, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, and Jeremy Jackson. He is currently on a 10 fight winning streak, finishing his last 5 opponents in the first round. He has recent wins over Ido Pariente, Renato "Charuto" Verissimo, and Mike Pyle. Shields has captured the Shooto World Mixed Martial Arts Championship and the Rumble on the Rock World Championship. He beat Nick Thompson for the Elite XC Welterweight World Championship in the first round via Guillotine Choke.
Jake had been the head instructor of BJJ (Brazilian jiu jitsu) and MMA at the Fairtex-Gracie affiliate in San Francisco from March 2002 until April 2008. Jake is now in partnership and teaches at Freestyle Submission Academy.
Personal life
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