Jake Shields said the decision proved rather easy.
Much easier than it would be for most people, anyway.
When his father and manager, Jack Shields, recently died, his son, who headlines Saturday's UFC Fight Night 25 event, decided the best thing to do was to complete his fight camp and go through with the fight.
"Late in the camp, unfortunately, I lost my dad, who is also my manager," Shields recently stated. "I had a really tough time. It took me a moment to figure out what I wanted to do, but I figured the right thing to do would be to continue to fight with him being my manager and my biggest supporter."
Shields (26-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), a former Strikeforce middleweight champ who fights for the first time since a title loss to UFC welterweight titleholder Georges St-Pierre, meets Jake Ellenberger (25-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The night's main card, including the headliner, airs on Spike TV.
Shields lost his father, a man who had many friends in the MMA industry, on Aug. 29. But Shields made his decision to go through with the fight rather quickly.
"I pretty much figured within a few minutes I was going to move forward and fight, so of course it's been little tough since then," he said. "But I don't think it's really affected my training. When it's been time to focus and train, I've been able to pull it together and got some of the best workouts and sparring sessions ever in the last couple of weeks."
Back in April at UFC 129, Shields, who was also an EliteXC champ, used a late-fight surge to break St-Pierre's streak of 30 consecutive rounds won. However, he ultimately fell short on the judges' scorecards. The loss broke a 15-fight win streak stretching back to 2005 that included welterweight and middleweight victories.
Shields said he changed up his camp for the UFC Fight Night 25 headliner, which lightened his schedule and may have made it easier to choose against scratching.
"I made some small changes that made a big difference and feel the best I've ever felt," he said. "I fixed my diet and switched to being fully vegan. I've been traveling a lot less and was able to get my camp closer to home. Before, I was doing a lot of traveling, but I got everything where I mostly train in San Francisco, which is nice. That gives me time to rest between my workouts, so I feel great right now."
R.I.P Jake Shields our prayers gou out to you and your family,you will be missed
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