Jake Shields built his game around wrestling, top control and submissions. A Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt, he beat Robbie Lawler and Dan Henderson during his Strikeforce run and held the promotion's middleweight title. He put together fifteen straight wins before challenging Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight belt in 2011.

He also beat Carlos Condit and Paul Daley before reaching the UFC, then won against Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia in the Octagon.

Shields joined Metal Mulisha in 2009 and wore our fight shorts against Lawler. He was part of the Mulisha MMA team during the same period as Henderson and Renato Babalu Sobral.