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All UFC welterweight Jake Shields had to do at UFC 121 was get his hand raised against Martin Kampmann and he was a lock to face the winner of Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck. Well, the grappler escaped with a split decision victory but Octagon boss Dana White appears to be waning on Shields’ No. 1 contender status.

“I’m still, at this point, not 100 percent sure,” Shields told Sherdog.com. “I know Dana’s made it sound like it’s a good chance it’s still happening, but I don’t know until it’s signed. Right now I’m just back to the gym, doing my thing. If they want me to fight for the title, I’ll happily do that. If not, I’ll fight whoever they want me to fight.”

The Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt was admittedly unimpressive in his win over the better conditioned Kampmann, but did just enough to secure the W.

“I misjudged some things. I misjudged the weight cut coming down. I made a lot of mistakes, but at least I learned from it with Martin before I fight for a title. Definitely, I plan on learning from the mistakes and coming back a lot stronger,” explained the welterweight.

After years of dominating in other promotions not named the UFC, Shields finally signed on the dotted line after taking out Dan Henderson in his final bout under the Strikeforce banner. The change of scenery instantly affected the Cesar Gracie trained fighter.

“It was a lot of pressure, a good opponent. By far the most media [obligations] I’ve ever seen, the most fans, the most attention,” Shields said. “The UFC’s without a doubt the biggest show. I’ve fought [in] big shows, but there’s a huge jump up in the UFC.

“I’m not that happy with my performance overall, but I am happy I won. I’m ready to move forward and have a better second fight in the UFC.”

White agreed with Shields’ assessment immediately following his lackluster Octagon debut.

“No matter how much weight he cut and whatever he did, that’s his fault,” White said a the post-fight press conference. “That’s his stupidity. He’s been in the game for a long time, so I don’t like to use any of that stuff, but the reality is I do know what he did and I know he won’t make those dumb mistakes next time.”

For now, Shields will play the waiting game and see who the division’s top dog will be at UFC 124 on December 11th.

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One of the biggest winners in yesterday’s merger between the UFC and WEC had to have been former featherweight king Urijah Faber. Although “The California Kid” has long been the face of World Extreme Cagefighting, he can’t wait to showcase his skills on the world’s biggest stage.

While Faber doesn’t currently don any gold around his waist, his recent move down to the 135-pound division has him chomping at the bit to get a strap back. The current UFC bantamweight champion is Dominick Cruz, who Faber happened to beat in a 145-pound contest over three years ago.

Fighters coming over to the UFC will have to adjust not only to the increased exposure, but also little things like fighting in an Octagon that’s larger than what WEC fighters used to call home.

Faber professes it won’t be an issue for him, but it’s something he believes will have an adverse affect on those who don’t like to press the action. Although he’s not one to normally talk trash, a recent viewing of his protege’s WEC 50 title loss to Cruz reminded him of what could be in store if he earns a shot at the crown for himself.

“[The] only reason that would even be a factor is if you have one guy that’s running the whole time, like Dominick Cruz does,” Faber said while appearing on TapouT Radio. “He might like the bigger cage better so he can have more space to dance around and pitter-patter with his punches. Most the guys are coming in there and getting right down to business and meeting in the middle.

“I just got done talking to Joseph Benavidez about his [fight]. I was watching the old video, so I was just reminded about how that fight went down.”

Now that he’s officially employed by the UFC, Faber no longer carries the burden of having to grow a promotion on his 135/145/155 pound shoulders and can now focus solely on fighting.

Another major benefit of movin’ on up to the UFC? The heftier paydays – not only for superstars like Faber, but every WEC fighter that gets promoted to the big leagues as well.

“There’s bigger rewards and more exposure and I think it’s going to be great for everybody,” an excited Faber claimed.

First thing’s first, though. Faber has a fight at WEC 52 against Takeya Mizugaki in what will be the promotion’s second-to-last event before the merger. The November 11th show takes places inside The Pearl inside The Palms Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes was one of many to watch Cain Velasquez steal Brock Lesnar’s moniker as “The Baddest Man on the Planet” at UFC 121. The Octagon Hall of Famer recently voiced his opinions on what went down this past Saturday.

Although Hughes didn’t know a lot about who Velasquez was heading into the bout, he didn’t believe in Lesnar enough to bet the farm on him.

“I had several offers to bet on Brock, but I just didn’t place any bets on him,” Hughes explained. “I didn’t know a lot about Cain, but I did know that he had some good wrestling credentials, he had better striking abilities, and he was going to use a lot more movement in the fight.

“I didn’t think Brock was going to lose like he did, but I knew there was a good chance Cain could get his hand raised.”

Although he grasped the magnitude of the event, the nine-time champion says he didn’t understand why the UFC pumped so much hype into the biggest heavyweight title bout in the promotion’s history.

“UFC kind of made a big deal about it,” said Hughes. “I really don’t know why, but I’m glad that the Mexicans have a heavyweight champion.”

For those of you who were under a rock for the past several of days, Velasquez thoroughly dominated the seemingly invincible Lesnar en route to capturing the gold. Not only for himself, but the entire Mexican-American community as well.

After a career-defining win, Velasquez had a busy Monday as he celebrated his victory with multiple appearances on radio and television. The champ was on Piolín por la Mañana before stopping by TMZ.com and chatting it up with Harvey Levin. He capped off his night by visiting George Lopez on Lopez Tonight.

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Could the UFC be working on a deal to get on network television? According to company president Dana White, the simple answer is, yes. However, that’s all you’re going to get out of the normally talkative Octagon boss, who says his product will be in a billion homes within the next few months.

“Yes, we will,” White told Broadcasting & Cable of being on broadcast TV by 2011. “We are working on some things right now. I just can’t talk about it at all because we are right in the middle of it. A lot of people don’t realize we are in a half a billion homes around the world. You know all the things we’ve been through in the United States, but this sport travels well.

“Cricket will never be big here and the NFL will never be big around the world. But we are all human beings and fighting is in our DNA. We get it and we like it. So we are working on a couple moves now and should be in a billion homes around the world in the next couple months.”

White hasn’t been shy about his aspirations for the sport he’s helped grow into near mainstream status, even going as far as saying MMA will become the biggest sport in the world by 2020.

Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the WEC and UFC, has an agreement in place to broadcast live Octagon events on the Versus Network. Industry insiders believe that partnership could open the doors for a deal with NBC since Comcast owns both networks. Fox has also been mentioned specifically, but everything is just cooler talk at the moment.

“It could be our way into NBC. Everything you’re saying makes sense,” White continued tease. “Fox on Saturday nights, Comcast merging with NBC, I am sorry I can’t get into it.”

There’s also the outside chance the UFC could creating their own premium channel, much like the WWE has done with their “WWE Classics on Demand.” That is an avenue that a recent survey reports would appeal to fans everywhere.

“Sports Business Journal just came out with a survey asking big names in the industry which sport could start its own network, and 4 out of 5 said us. They are right. I agree. That will happen within the next couple years,” the Octagon president stated.

As we reported yesterday, White will be making a “major announcement” during a media call on Thursday at 10AM PT/1PM ET.

Let the rumor mill continue to churn.

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Did you hear? A new heavyweight king was crowned Saturday night at UFC 121. Cain Velasquez became the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion in combat sports history after disposing of the “unstoppable” Brock Lesnar. 

Nobody doubted Velasquez’s overall skills coming into last night’s much publicized title bout, but there was plenty of uncertainty surrounding his ability to finish off the now former champ.

“Well, we knew with the Shane Carwin fight that he was a little uncomfortable in the stand up, but he has really strong wrestling. He’s a strong guy,” Velasquez told ESPN2’s MMA Live. “Our plan was to keep the distance, but also stay aggressive, and if you do get taken down, we’re getting right back up.

“I think I had the perfect workout partners to do that.”

Velasquez followed his gameplan down to a tee, as he simply ran through Lesnar en route to getting the gold put around his waist. After only four minutes and twelve seconds of work, mind you.

Lesnar came out like a house on fire, but Velasquez predicted the violent storm and was able to weather it.

“Just from watching the ‘Countdown’ show, [I knew] he was going to come out aggressive from watching him hit mitts and everything else,” Velasquez explained. “I knew he was gonna come out aggressive, I didn’t think he was gonna come out that aggressive.

“I wasn’t completely relaxed to where it was a perfect fight for me. That’s one thing I’ll look back and learn off of, [to make sure I'm] constantly getting better.”

There was no secret about what Brock Lesnar’s strategy was going to be; use his unprecedented combination of brute size and strength and take the American Kickboxing Academy heavyweight to the canvas. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t keep Velasquez down.

“When he did take me down and I got back up, I’d just tell myself ‘Stay relaxed, stay relaxed, movement and look for the shots.’ I think in the beginning, I wasn’t as relaxed as I should’ve been and it’s just a learning process,” Velasquez humbly stated.

When the time finally came for him to slam the door shut on the former pro wrestler, he stuck with his relaxation theme to ensure he wouldn’t gas with too vicious of a flurry – a la Carwin in his loss to Lesnar at UFC 116.

“I didn’t think he was hurt [when he was stumbling across the Octagon]. I just thought he was trying to catch his balance and I wasn’t gonna to go in super aggressive on him. I tried to stay smart and just follow him and see where he would end up,” Velasquez said.

Unfortunately, a champion’s work is never done and the time to relax will soon be over. A blazing Brazilian is chomping at the bit for a piece of UFC gold, so another brutal training camp isn’t too far off.

Cain wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Junior dos Santos is out now and he’s next in line, so I gotta get ready for him. He’s an amazing striker, I think he’s the best right now in the heavyweight division as a striker,” the new champion stated.

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The biggest fight card of the year is only a day away. UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar defends his title against Cain Velasquez Saturday night at UFC 121 inside Anaheim, California’s Honda Center.

Lesnar enters The OC as the odds-on favorite to retain his crown, so the onus is on Velasquez to make something special happen.

The question is, what can Cain do to derail the sport’s biggest attraction?

Shane Carwin was by far and away the single greatest threat to Lesnar’s heavyweight title run, and he simply ran out of gas. The heavy handed Carwin showed what pure power can do in the 1stRound, but that appeared to have only awoken the beast. Even Lesnar couldn’t believe he endured the beating he did at UFC 116 to leave with the belt wrapped around his waist.

The UFC’s golden ticket to getting south of the border has several advantages coming into this fight with the champ. Superior striking, speed and most importantly, momentum are all on Velasquez’s side.

You could argue the Mexican-American is coming off his two most impressive victories, with back-to-back finishes over Ben Rothwell and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, respectively. Lesnar, on the other hand, has only been tested once since “miraculously” recovering from his life-threatening bout with diverticulitis.

Although Lesnar has returned a much leaner and meaner version, he’s still going to be packing a considerable size advantage against the undefeated challenger.

The former WWE superstar has simply been too massive for opponents like Randy Couture and Frank Mir, both of whom are former division champions. Velasquez has nowhere near the experience of Couture and lacks the submission abilities of Mir, yet he represents Lesnar’s most formidable foe to date.

Will Lesnar be able to impose his size and strength to retain his title? Or will Velasquez’s superior overall MMA skills carry him to victory?

We’ll find out tomorrow night at 7PM PT/10PM ET.

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Don’t forget to watch heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez star in Spike TV’s debut of “UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez.” Oh wait, it’s not two weeks ago and you missed the entire three-part series? No worries, 5thRound.com’s got your back with a freebie stream of all three episodes.

The first show debuted on October 6th, with the final two editions airing on the successive Wednesdays.

“UFC Primetime” provided an in-depth look into the lives of both 265-pound studs. As the two prepare for Saturday’s appointment, Spike took viewers from rural Minnesota where Lesnar trains with his Death Clutch team to San Jose, Cali where Velasquez works with the famed American Kickboxing Academy squad.

Lesnar is coming off a come-from-behind victory over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, while Velasquez is looking to capitalize on the most impressive win of his young career after stopping MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110.

The Honda Center in Anaheim, California will host tomorrow’s pay-per-view extravaganza.

Please click the media player below to watch the captivating three-part series:

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At this point, every wannabe mixed martial arts annalists (including yours truly) have submitted their breakdowns for Saturday’s monumental UFC 121 event. Well, it’s time for us amateurs to step aside, as ESPN2’s MMA Live crew offered up their analysis on tomorrow’s main event between heavyweight king Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.

Hosts Jon Anik, Franklin McNeal and UFC star/broadcaster Kenny Florian shared their thoughts on the 265-pound matchup during the latest edition of the weekly show.

Velasquez earned a crack at the crown with his impressive TKO stoppage of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 in Australia this past February.

“The Next Big Thing” is fresh off a come-from-behind victory over Shane Carwin at UFC 116. The former pro wrestler managed to survive an early onslaught to pull out a dramatic 2ndround submission win.

Saturday’s extravaganza takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Please click the media player below to watch MMA Live’s talented panel dissect the biggest heavyweight scrap of the year:

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Heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar will be defending his title against Cain Velasquez on Saturday at UFC 121, so it’s understandable why his mind is a little bit occupied.

Lesnar appeared as an in-studio guest on ESPN’s Rome is Burning on Thursday. Romey asked him to respond to this rant former middleweight top contender and reigning Octagon black sheep Chael Sonnen unleashed last month:

“If Brock Lesnar was here right now, I’d take my boot off and throw it at him and he’d better polish it up before he brings it back to me.

That guy comes around here talking about he’s the baddest guy in the UFC? Hey Brock, quit eating so many raw eggs and doing push-ups cause it’s affecting your realm on reality.

Are you kidding me? I’d slap you in your face and you wouldn’t do anything about it, Brock. ‘But I’m Brock Lesnar, I’ve got this five-dollar haircut and a knife tattooed on my chest.’

Well, I’d shove it up through your face if you get in Chael Sonnen’s way.”

“I don’t know who he is,” Lesnar told the popular sports personality.

When Rome played a video of Sonnen’s Q&A session and asked the champ if he recognized the guy on the screen, Lesnar was still unsure who he was looking at.

“Is he a fighter?” Lesnar coyly replied. “I don’t know who he is, I’m serious.”

Enough said…

Clearly, the former “wannabe” Minnesota Viking has more important fish to fry, as he’ll be looking to take care of Velasquez’s unblemished 8-0 resume this Saturday inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZyO9MXqK54

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