Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and top ten ranked middleweight Jake Shields gave us and exclusive interview before his big fight with Dan Henderson in the comming weeks.
We asked Jake questions about how he got into the game, what his training and diet is leading up to a big fight and also what advice he would give to young and up comming fighters.
His achievements in MMA include:
"Strikeforce Middleweight Champion
2 X EliteXC Welterweight Champion
Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Champion
Shooto Middleweight World Champion
Shooto America’s & Pacific Rim Champion
Gladiator Challenge Welterweight Champion
Midwest Fighting Superfight Champion
U.A.G.F. Fighting North American Champion"
You can read the interview here:http://www.mmaireland.org/readinterview.php?id=27
Hope you guys enjoy!
Thanks, from all at MMAIRELAND.org
Stolen from mmaireland.org.
1.Jake, you are a successful mixed martial artist who holds the current Strikeforce middleweight championship. How and when did you first get into martial arts? I started wrestling when I was a kid. While I was wrestling in college I met Chuck Liddell. He invited me to come by his gym. I had been training for a couple of weeks. One of the fighters' at the gym had a fight that I went to. The promoter needed a last minute replacement for a 185 pound fight and I stepped up and did it. I won and got hooked. 2. What age where you when you had your first MMA fight and how long did you train for to prepare for this? I was 20 and had been training about 2 weeks. I fought about 5 times in the first 9 months. I had mostly been doing it for fun but then I got real serious about it. 3. Outline a typical days training. Sparring, grappling & pad work, weight & condition training. 4. What would your diet consist of leading up to a big fight? I try to keep it real clean. Oatmeal for breakfast, lunch & dinner would be rice, tofu & fresh veggies, bean burritos. Snacks of nuts, protein bars, granola & soy milk. 5. What is your favourite striking technique? 6. What is your favourite grappling technique? 7. Have you got any pre-fight rituals? 8.Obviously you broke into Strikeforce by fighting on smaller shows, similar to what we have in Ireland. Roughly how long did it take you to get your big break and could you briefly sum up your experience? I started fighting in 1999. I won the Gladiator Challenge Championship, a regional show on the west coast. That got me into SHOOTO where I beat Hayato Sakurai, my first big break. That was 2002. Then I won the SHOOTO welterweight title. After that I won the Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Tournament. Some of the other fighters were Anderson Silva, Yushin Okami, CarlosCondit, Frank Trigg. That was probably one of my bigger breaks. It was shortly after that that Elite XC started where I won the welterweight championship and now Strikeforce. Since EliteXC all of my fights have been televised, which has really helped my recognition. 9. What advice would you give to young athletes just getting into Mixed Martial Arts? Find a good team with good coaches and then just work hard. Remember it doesn't come over night, it takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice. Stay in good shape all the time-- most all of my early fights, until the SHOOTO title, were offered 2 to 3 weeks out. That's were you often get your big breaks. 10. Do you have any hobbies other than fighting? I grew up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains doing mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking and snowboarding. I like going out to clubs with my friends and I like to travel for fun when I can. But most of my time is given to training right now. |
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Thanks.