Georges St. Pierre Or Josh Koscheck To Defend Title Against Jake Shields Next

Brocktober is the theme heading into UFC 121 this coming Saturday, but Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez is not the only fight fans should be getting excited about. The co-main event featuring Jake Shields vs. Danish fighter Martin Kampmann is an important match up and the only match up of the night with contender status on the line.

“Jake shields is obviously at the top of the list, if Jake Shields should win against Martin Kampmann it will probably be him next.” Much to Jon Fitch’s dismay, this was Dana White’s response to questions at a UFC 124 press conference about who the next possible contender at welterweight will be.

When Shields was pressed in an interview with USA Today about the fact that many fans feel he is undeserved of a title shot after one fight in the UFC he had the following to say:

“Go and look at my record. Look at my career. I think if they look me up on Sherdog and look at my last five years, then all of a sudden they'd realize I deserve a title shot. The guys I've been beating have been top contenders in the UFC and everywhere.”

One look at Jake Shields’ record and it is pretty clear that he has pretty much got the winning thing down pat. This is Shields’ first foray in to the UFC, but having gone undefeated in his last 14 fights and beating talented guys like Dan Henderson, Paul Daley, Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami to name a few, there isn’t much reason to deny Shields a title shot should he come out victorious against Martin Kampmann this coming Saturday.

One fighter who disagrees with handing Shields the title shot after one victory in the UFC and is current contender Jon Fitch.

Jon Fitch had this to say to mmafighting.com when asked about what he would like to see in his future

“The next time a title shot is coming around it’s probably going to be a while, so I’m kind of thinking that I might want to fight again before the title shot so the winner of Kampmann/Shields I think would be a perfect match up”

Jon Fitch is a solid fighter in his own right having gone 13-1 since being in the UFC and being on a five-fight win streak since suffering a lopsided loss to current champion Georges St. Pierre.

It would make sense to have Jon Fitch fight Jake Shields, but the fact that Fitch refuses to fight his friend and current challenger Josh Kosheck makes matters difficult for the UFC.

If Koscheck wins the title, you can’t have Fitch fight Shields for the next title shot because if Fitch wins and refuses to fight Koscheck then the UFC could possibly be faced with having a guy come off a loss to challenge for the title.

The only way a Fitch vs. Shields match up makes sense is if Georges St. Pierre defends his belt against Josh Koscheck, which no one can deny is a very strong possibility.

The only reason one could make the argument that Shields should get the shot before Fitch is that Fitch has already lost to Georges St. Pierre and the loss was a pretty one sided affair. Jake Shields hasn’t fought Georges St. Pierre yet and the fact that Shields has such a strong ground game could make for an interesting match up if that fight were to hit the mat.

Besides Jon Fitch, there isn’t really anybody else who is equally or more deserving of a title shot than Jake Shields. Most of the other top welterweights in the UFC have recent losses on their records or are lacking the quality victories to move them to the front of the line. In any case, don’t be surprised to see Jake Shields square off for the title if he keeps his record intact this coming Saturday against Martin Kampmann.