Penick's Take
PENICK: Jake Shields didn't earn a title shot with UFC 121 victory over Martin Kampmann
Oct 24, 2010 - 2:33:00 PM PENICK: Jake Shields didn't earn a title shot with UFC 121 victory over Martin Kampmann

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Jake Shields won his UFC debut on Saturday night at UFC 121, defeating Martin Kampmann by split decision in Anaheim. But one thing seemed very clear following the fight: the win should not leapfrog him over Jon Fitch for the next shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship.

After fighting three fights above 180 lbs. to finish out his Strikeforce career, Shields seemed to be adversely affected by his weight cut back to the welterweight division for this fight. In April, he went five rounds with Dan Henderson, keeping the former Olympic wrestler on his back for much of the final 20 minutes of the fight with plenty still in the tank. But at UFC 121, Shields was exhausted after the second round, and struggled in the third immensely as Kampmann battled him on the ground.

Kampmann's problem in the fight was that he didn't do much himself to make an argument that he should have won. While he stifled a lot of Shields' offense and scrambled and reversed to make it back to his feet after being taken down multiple times, his offensive output wasn't enough to definitively take it from Shields.

The FightMetric report for the fight had it a draw, with Shields winning the first round, Kampmann edging the second and neither fighter winning the third. As judges are reluctant to score rounds a 10-10, it's not surprising to see their scores come down all over the place at 30-27, 29-28 Shields and 29-28 Kampmann.

The split decision victory wasn't a particularly entertaining fight, and it wasn't a very convincing win for Shields, neither of which bodes well for his hopes to challenge for the Championship. And with how Kampmann handled his grappling, he didn't provide much to suggest he'd be a remote challenge for Georges St. Pierre.

For the UFC, the next move should be clear. Jon Fitch has done everything he can possibly do since losing to Georges St. Pierre in 2008 to earn a second shot at a title. He's won five straight fights since that UFC 87 meeting and has established himself as the clear #2 welterweight in the world. Shields, while he did get his 15th straight victory, didn't do so in a fashion that gives him any claim to the title shot over Fitch.

If (or rather when) Georges St. Pierre retains his Welterweight Championship in December, Fitch should get a second shot against him, and Shields should be matched up against Carlos Condit next. If he can defeat Condit for a second time, and make the cut better to do so, he'll stake his claim for the shot. It also gives Condit a chance to avenge his loss from 2006 and truly earn his title shot as well.