UFC 129 Predictions: A Head-to-Toe Breakdown of Anderson Silva vs. Jake Shields

It's a long shot, arguably the longest shot in UFC fight history, but at no time was it ever justifiable to claim that Jake Shields could not beat Georges St-Pierre decisively.

Granted, I am one of the many who thinks that Georges will walk out of Toronto as the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Welterweight Champion of the World, but I am also one of the few who realizes what many choose to deny, which is that GSP is not blowing smoke when he calls Jake Shields a difficult fight.

The only way Jake Shields will get Anderson Silva, though, is if Shields beats St-Pierre, Silva beats Yushin Okami at UFC 134 in Rio, and Dana White decides to let the fans get what they wanted all along, which is Shields at Middleweight (where he belongs, in my eyes)

Hypothetically speaking, however, would Shields have really much of a shot to beat Silva if the two faced off?

After watching the Champions-only Q&A yesterday, I made the decision to weigh in on what could go down if Jake Shields extended his streak to sixteen straight wins and met up with Anderson Silva, after a UFC 134 victory over Yushin Okami of course.

What did I come up with?

Let's see for ourselves in this, the last head-to-toe breakdown I will put out before UFC 129!

Striking

Vitor Belfort called that front kick from two months ago a "lucky shot," but if you're like me and you try to find out the truth behind most MMA-related matters every now and then, you realize as I do that the front kick was well timed, not lucky.

I only reiterate the front kick because it's one of the many strikes that the Muay Thai master from Curitiba possesses in his arsenal.

Do you remember the last time Shields ever knocked someone out?

Exactly.

To the man's credit, however, he does have three TKO wins, all by strikes, under his belt, but his striking has always been seen as a glaring weakness.

Don't expect it to change against Silva.

Advantage: Silva

Submissions

If we're talking unpredictability in executing a slick submission, then we'll go with the guy that saved his own ass and belt after four and a half rounds of getting beat up.

Overall, this fight should be causing instant flashbacks to Silva's fights with Demian Maia and Thales Leites.

Granted, Shields won't bank on Silva to carelessly waltz into his guard or get his ass whooped by Silva for three rounds and only come back in the dying seconds of the fifth due to Silva's nonchalance, but if you've followed Jake Shields' career (or stalked him on Twitter, for your own reasons), you know about the overall Jiu-Jitsu game of Shields.

In other words, you know that regardless of what Shields is working on, you know that Shields' game plan will be to make Shields tap.

Unless Silva has perfected the art of the Standing Arm Triangle, he'll have to do his best Jits-work from off his back, and doing work from anywhere on the ground with Jake is risky business.

Advantage: Shields

Takedowns/Takedown Defense

Again, this is one for Jake, and I think we all know why.

Wrestling has been the kryptonite of Silva for a long time, and there have been very few guys that have been able to take Silva down, and yet have been unable to truly keep him down long enough to do any work.

Also, when was the last time anyone ever said "Silva gets a beautiful takedown!" in the heat of a fight, except MAYBE in the Curtis Stout fight?

If you recall that fight,  you're a smart person.

I don't recall a good takedown by Silva, and his elbows didn't count as such, so this one isn't even debatable.

Advantage: Shields

Unpredictabily/Creativity

The game of Shields is improving and he is finding new ways to whoop ass, but the only thing that is creative about Shields to me is that he is always finding new ways to get a dominant position and keep it.

Silva is just finding new ways to finish opponents, and he's done so before despite being merciless handled during fights as well.

Also, need I remind you of how he's finished guys in the past when he was dominating?

Let's just admit what we already know: Silva finds a new way to win every time, while Jake just finds a new way to keep his foes down,

He'll need to look to Eddie Bravo if he wants to prove me wrong here.

Advantage: Silva

"Who Wants It More?"

This is heart, soul, drive and hunger all rolled into one.

Both men are driven to be as good as they can be in the sport, they have rarely ever fought half-assed, and when they see an opportunity to go for it, they try for the "W."

In this fight, Silva's true heart would be up against Shields' true heart—how long one man can go until he cracks at the hands of the other will be measured in this fight, and you can put it in the bank that this one will not end in Round 1, despite how devastating Silva can be.

Shields swallowed the entire right hand of Dan Henderson and still went on to dominate twenty minutes of their bout in Nashville.

If he can survive the most explosive right hand in MMA, bar none, what could he do against arguably the pound-for-pound greatest champion in UFC and possibly even MMA history?

Probably the same thing Silva can do if he can survive against like he did against guys like Rich Franklin and Travis Lutter.

Chalk this one up to whoever you're throwing your life savings on.

Advantage: This is the only one I'm leaving open this time. I promise. Don't get too comfortable with this for future breakdowns.

UFC 129 St-Pierre vs. Shields: Fight Card, News, Predictions, Results, and More!

As far as who wins, you can chalk this one up to Silva for now, but if the fight actually happens, take a trip to San Fransisco and train with the Cesar Gracie boys one time.

Maybe you can see what Silva has to worry about better than I can.