UFC 171 has one of the most compelling cards I’ve seen on paper in the past few years . It features several match ups, where there are no significant mismatches. While the latter pay-per-views in 2013 were full of star power, many of those match-ups were fairly predictable. That isn’t the case for UFC 171, where if you get all five picks right then you deserve a round of applause.
It can be also known as the showcase for the welterweight division, which I believe is the best division in the UFC. While four fighters with highlight-reel knockouts are featured on the pay-per-view banner, another intriguing welterweight fight will take place on the main card. Jake Shields will face Hector Lombard in a classic match-up of striker versus grappler.
It was another great matchmaking decision by Joe Silva to make such a unique fight. Shields is on a four fight-winning streak (technically three, since he failed the post-fight drug test after defeating Ed Herman) by essentially out grappling all of his opponents. Now they match him up against Lombard, who looks like a match-up nightmare for any welterweight. I’ve never seen Nate Marquardt look that overwhelmed in his career, when he was knocked out by Lombard at UFC 166. It made many people recognize how dangerous Lombard can be at welterweight.
While it may be the classic striker versus grappler match-up, both fighters have accomplishments that make this fight even more appealing. Lombard has a plethora of medals from his success in judo. He has become enamored with his striking, but he remains to be more than capable of being in control on the ground or in the clinch.. It took several attempts before Yushin Okami was able to take him down, despite the major size differential. Lombard’s size is frightening for a welterweight, especially as a fighter who won’t hesitate in throwing wild combinations and constantly trying to corner you.
What Shields has to feel comfortable about is that he’s had experience defeating similar fighters in the past. His performance against Dan Henderson will never be forgotten. He controlled an Olympic wrestler for four rounds, when nobody was picking him to win. After being knocked down twice in the first round, he managed to stay focused and was persistent in putting Henderson on his back.
Persistence is one of the main reasons why Shields has been so successful in his career. He’s realized that his striking won’t be on par with all of the top strikers in the division. While going into his title defense against Henderson, he knew his best hope of winning was to put Henderson on his back and wear him down by having to sprawl constantly. He did just that by going for a single leg on numerous occasions. Even when it seemed like Henderson completed a successful sprawl, Shields would use his superior ground skills to stay on top.
His ground-and-pound isn’t going to knock you out, but once again it’s used as a way of persistence. It assures him that he will stay on top without having to worry about a potential standup. Shields will start throwing punches on top, as a way to setup a submission as well. You saw that in the fourth round, where he looked for an arm bar after Henderson kept his left arm out to defend himself from taking clean punches. He knows that he doesn’t have the power to end the fight with one punch, but he needs to stay active to keep his position on top and potentially set up a submission.
Shields has also beaten Tyron Woodley, who has overwhelming power in his hands and is a massive welterweight. Similar to the Henderson fight, he used his jab to distract Woodley and gain leverage in going for a take-down. He wasn’t reckless going for predictable take-downs that were telegraphed in his fight against Jake Ellenberger. There was no faints or any punches to throw off Ellenberger. He paid for it by taking a huge knee followed by vicious ground-and-pound on his way to losing in 51 seconds.
While he never got Woodley to the ground, he held him against the fence and controlled him through significant portions of the fight. That wore down Woodley, who has had cardio issues in the past. It was an efficient game plan, although it can be considered as the complete opposite of a crowd pleaser.
Pleasing the crowd never mattered to him. His goal was to always win in any way, shape, or form. There are fighters that want bonuses to keep their bank account full. Then there are fighters like Shields, who want to be champion regardless of how exciting his performance is. He knows how to close the distance efficiently like few other fighters can. Whether it’s with punches in top position on the ground or knees in the clinch, he does enough to stay active and wear down his opponents to where they don’t have much left to muster up a late comeback.
While there are clear similarities, Lombard is a more difficult challenge than Henderson or Woodley. People tend to forget that Lombard has tremendous cardio for someone his size. You’d think he wear down by being so muscular, yet he never fades away. Even when Okami kept trying to hold him down, Lombard kept pushing the pace and tried to add another knockout to his resume.
Nobody has been able to keep Lombard on his back or against the cage for an extended period of time. Will Shields be the first fighter to do so? That’s what makes the fight so intriguing to me. Lombard made such a memorable impression in his welterweight debut that has many fans excited. Shields is coming off a win against Demian Maia, where he out-grappled one of the best grapplers and Jiu-Jitsu specialists in the world.
Shields is very intelligent and knows how to implement his game plan. That’s what it will take to defeat Lombard. I’m sure he realizes that he can’t stand and trade with Lombard for too long. He’ll have to keep him honest and try to frustrate him. That will lead to luring him in for a take-down or at least pushing him against the cage.
This will have to be a 15-minute battle for Shields, where he’ll need one major element to keep his journey upright towards a title shot. That element will be persistence in trying to defeat the most intimidating welterweight in the world.
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
