On July 26, 2008, former Wisconsin resident, Nick “The Goat” Thompson will fight in the biggest fight of his career and in front of one of the biggest US audiences ever when he fights Jake Shields for the vacant Elite XC welterweight title in Stockton, California on CBS. Thompson was asked to take the fight when on again – off again, Drew Fickett was cut from the organization last month.
Thompson is more than qualified to fight for the title and will bring a 12 fight win streak to the cage that began with UFC and IFL veteran Chris Wilson two years ago. He is the former BodogFight welterweight champion and defeated notable fighters such as Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Denes, and Ansar Chalagnov while with the organization. As of late, Thompson has been fighting in Japan for World Victory Road’s Sengoku organization. This year he defeated Brazilian fighters Fabricio Monteiro in March and Chute Boxe’s Michael Costa in June bringing his record to (36-9-1).
Thompson is a former University of Wisconsin wrestler and began his MMA career with notable Wisconsin MMA fighters Dave Strasser, Ron Faircloth, and Pat O’Malley. He currently trains at Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson. Other notable fighters in that gym include Sean Sherk, Brock Lesnar, Brock Larson, Derrick Noble, and Kaitlin Young.
Jake Shields is probably the most talented fighter that the casual fan of MMA has never heard of. He is a black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie and trains with notable fighters such as Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, and David Terrell. He is the #3 ranked welterweight in the world according to WAMMA. Carlos Condit of the WEC is the only other non-UFC welterweight to hold a spot in the top ten. Nick “The Goat” Thompson is an honorable mention. Shields sports an MMA record of (20-4-1) and is riding a nine fight win streak. He is the former Rumble on the Rock welterweight champion and holds wins over former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit, and UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami while with that organization. After ROTR, Shields fought in K-1 Hero’s and BodogFight before finding his home in Elite XC. Since joining the organization he has racked up wins over Renato Verissimo and Mike Pyle last year.
Jake Shields was supposed to fight Drew Fickett originally for the title but the fight was postponed due to a back injury. The match was rescheduled but Fickett pulled out with a knee injury. It was later discovered that Fickett had fought only one week prior to the scheduled bout with Shields in a Rage in the Cage fight. Upon learning the news, Elite XC quickly released Fickett from his contract.
This is one of the biggest welterweight fights of the year and it brings some legitimacy to Elite XC organization. Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith will fight again for the Elite XC middleweight title. Nick Diaz will also fight Thomas “Wildman” Denny. On the undercard, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will fight Justin Eilers for the vacant Elite XC heavyweight title. The undercard will be broadcast live on Showtime while the main card will be broadcast live on CBS.
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