Tyron Woodley (photo via Esther Lin / Showtime)

By Michael Hatamoto

Tyron Woodley looks to dispatch former welterweight contender Jake Shields and move up the rankings towards a possible title shot.

Shields has bounced between the welterweight and middleweight divisions, but decided to drop back down to welterweight following a failed drug test. The Cesar Gracie BJJ black belt has spent time training at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose, working out with Luke Rockhold, Phil Baroni, and others.

Woodley holds wins against Jay Hieron, Paul Daley and Tarec Saffiedine, but a victory against Shields would be his biggest MMA victory.

Shields is a fantastic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist and wrestler, but Woodley is a former University of Missouri wrestler and has good takedown defense. In the past, Woodley said he believes he could submit Shields, despite the ‘American Jiu Jitsu’ practitioner having a better grappling pedigree.

I think Shields will have a hard time trying to take Woodley down and keep his back against the mat – but Shields has a knack for forcing his game plan against opponents. Woodley needs to force Shields into a kickboxing match, and use counter punches to prevent Shields from looking for the take down.

Please visit Full Contact Fighter as we quickly approach UFC 161 on June 15, which is headlined by a clash between Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the co-main event and the winner could find himself closer to a light heavyweight title shot.