Jake Shields, who's on the winning streak of 9 fights with vicotries over Mike Pyle, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami gave interview.
BE - What made you decide to stay with Elite XC?
Shields - They've always treated me real good and we were able to work out a good deal.
BE- What other organizations were you in talks with?
Shields - My manager dealt with all that.
BE - Who do you feel that Elite XC can bring in to face you that would result in a big money fight and be a test of your skills?
Shields - They promised to look for the best guys out there and try to bring them in. They also said anyone from any other promotion could come in and fight me without having to sign with Elite, so that leaves it open.
BE - Since a cross promotion with the UFC will never happen, what fighters in other promotions would you like to test yourself against? Anyone in the Strikeforce, IFL, ICON, Cage Rage etc?
Shields - You never know what the UFC will do. Chuck [Liddell] fought a couple of times in Pride. There might have been some other guys too. As far as other Elite promotions, I just got a list of some of the fighters that might make good fights. Drew Fickett, he's 31-5, with wins over Josh Koshcheck, Kurt Pelligrino, and a lot of other good fighters. There's Carlo Prater, he just beat Keith Wisniewski, and has wins over Carlos Condit and Spencer Fisher, and then there's Cage Rage champion, Paul Daley.
BE - You are 1-1 against Akira Kikuchi, would he be an option? Is that a fight that interests you?
Shields - Yeah, they were both close fights, but he's been on a little bit of a slide lately. Who I'd like to fight is Shinya Aoki, he's been beating everyone out there. I have wins over some of the best Japanese fighters, top ten guys like Sakurai, Okami, Kikuchi and most Americans don't know who they are. But I'd still like to fight Aoki. I think we'd make a good fight.
BE - As you continue to win and dominate Elite XC, how will you handle the criticism that will be directed at you about not being in the UFC and not fighting and being apart of the biggest promotions deepest division?
Shields - Anything can happen in a fight. I should dominant most fighters, but I'm sure there's some wars out there for me. Eventually I'll get around to everybody.
BE - What are your plans for 2008? How many times will you fight?
Shields - I'd like to fight about 4 times.
BE - What can the fans expect from you this year? What are you looking to improve?
Shields - They can expect to see me working hard on all aspects of my game. I'm still growing and improving every day and want to be the best.
BE - Any final thoughts?
Shields - Thanks to all my supporters and all the MMA fans out there.
source: BloodyElbow.com
