Jake Shields being cut by the UFC helps to toss out the window the idea that the UFC is a competitive sport where the best fight the best. Sure, Jake Shields may never be Welterweight Champion, but is the onus of employment in the UFC dependent solely on Championship potential? If so we could run down the roster and tear it apart, piece by piece. Jake Shields has been relatively quiet since his release, but finally has spoken out about the ordeal. This includes when Dana White claimed that Jake Shields was just “another guy.” [source]
“I was definitely a little surprised, especially coming off some big wins, guys in the top-10, main events.
“I definitely didn’t think they’d drop me after one loss. But, you know, I had a terrible performance. I certainly didn’t feel like I fought like myself that night. But, given that it was one performance, you should get a second chance to go out there and try to win again. And I wasn’t given that. But, ultimately it is what it is.
“I didn’t read what Dana said, but ‘another guy?’ So are [a lot of other fighters] I guess, considering I beat at least half the guys in the top-10. That’s a little bit ridiculous. But I guess you have to justify it somehow.
“My last two fights have been really close and I haven’t finished, so I figure maybe they’re just doing that,” Shields said. “But that doesn’t really… I feel like the sport, they’re trying to pull it away from being the best in the sport, and just putting it into, oh, you gotta go and slug it out and fight the way they want you to, which is kind of ridiculous. You wouldn’t have guys like Floyd Mayweather being the best in the world if [boxing executives] pressured him like that.