UFC 144 Fight Card: Where Does Jake Shields Rank With a Win?

UFC 144 will prove to be one of the biggest events of the year. 

While Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson will meet for the light heavyweight title, Jake Shields and Yoshihiro Akiyama will be fighting for their UFC jobs. 

Before coming to the UFC, Shields was one of the best MMA fighters in the world. 

He was the Strikeforce middleweight champion, hadn't lost a fight since 2004 and defeated fighters like Dan Henderson, Jason Miller and Paul Daley. 

Since debuting in the UFC in 2010, Shields has gone just 1-2. 

Although he won his first fight against Martin Kampmann, it was a close fight that some felt he should have lost. 

Shields faced off against Georges St-Pierre in his next fight. Despite being the first person to win a round against St-Pierre in a long time, Shields still lost by unanimous decision. 

Shields faced hardship both in and out of the Octagon leading up to his fight with Jake Ellenberger. 

Just a few weeks before the fight, Shields lost his father. Despite the heavy loss, he went on with the Ellenberger fight. Shields wanted to win for his father, but ended up losing by TKO in just 53 seconds. 

Shields will have another tough challenge against Akiyama, who will be fighting in front of his home country. 

If Shields can defeat Akiyama, he will keep his job—but it will not make him a top welterweight contender. 

Shields will need to build his resume up some and pick up some high-profiled wins if he wants to become a serious title contender again. 

Akiyama has been on the slide himself, with three straight losses. But it's a fight for Shields that could be a great start for getting him back into the mix.