Jake Shields in an unlikely champion. Fighting most of his career at 170 lbs, Shields has looked great since moving up to 185 lbs, a feat which not many Mixed Martial Artists have been able to successfully pull off.

Shields is undefeated in his last fifteen fights, he has finished eight opponents during that stretch. The competition he has beaten is impressive. He has pulled off wins against Sakurai, Imada, Menne, Okami, Condit, Daley, Lawler, Miller and most recently Dan Henderson. He has not lost over five years when dropped a December 14th, 2004 decision to Akira Kikuchi.

While he may not be hunting for a knockout every time he steps into the cage he uses his skill set perfectly to his advantage. Shields is able to find opportunities and smother opponents from the top position before finding an opening. In true black belt fashion, Shields knows exactly how and when to use his energy. In his last performance he looked to get stronger with every round. After the initial onslaught from Henderson, he fought hard where he was comfortable - on the mat.

The fight on Saturday was the final commitment on his Strikeforce contract and now the Middleweight champion is a free agent, one who the UFC would do well to pick up before it's too late. Picking up Shields has one big pay off, a new threat for the divisional kingpin - Georges St. Pierre.

St. Pierre has been nothing short of outstanding in the UFC welterweight division. If the UFC is able to add Shields they have an immediate threat to GSP. It makes for a nice story line - another promotion's champion moving to the UFC, dropping back down to his original weight class to try and outpoint the golden boy.

I think that Shields would be the most likely candidate to beat St. Pierre at this point. Shields' technical prowess may be too much for St. Pierre to handle at this point.

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Wrestling: The wrestling could go either way. St. Pierre looked unstoppable against Dan Hardy hitting all eleven takedown attempts. Although, it seemed like Hardy didn't know the meaning of the word sprawl. On the other hand, Shields' wrestling against Henderson looked unbelievable. Taking down a two-time Olympic wrestler on five of nine attempts is pretty impressive.

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Striking: I feel the striking could also go either way in this one. Shields did out strike Henderson 232-61 on Saturday night with the slight majority being ground strikes. (180 to be precise) However, on the feet Shields was hurt badly in the first round and knocked down twice. St. Pierre out struck Hardy 174-42, the large majority of which came on the mat. (164 to be precise)

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Grappling: On the mat, Shields held eleven dominant positions to Henderson's goose egg, in addition to eight submission attempts compared to Henderson's two. St. Pierre attempted six submissions on Hardy but only had two very close. He also took Hardy's back five times and the mount twice.

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This would be an interesting match up for the UFC. It would be great to watch because St. Pierre has never faced a technician like Shields. I would expect a full five rounds with both fighters hitting takedowns and numerous scrambles ensuing. Whichever fighter is able to push the pace and able to inflict more damage from top position wins this fight.

It is a smart business move for the UFC to pick up Shields. They can't cultivate contenders for St. Pierre's title fast enough, so they might as well hire some outside help to knock off GSP, providing him with an exit strategy before he decides to move up and dethrone Anderson Silva.