Former UFC welterweight contender Jake Shields recently shared his thoughts on a CNN segment featuring reporter Donie O’Sullivan during an episode of his podcast.
Shields started by explaining how the segment came together. “Last year CNN hit me up for an interview,” he said. “Obviously CNN fake news. I figured it would be a hit piece, but I said sure, what can they do to make me look bad?”
According to Shields, things quickly took an unusual turn when O’Sullivan arrived at his Las Vegas gym.
“He came to one interview and I forced him to go in the ring with me because he said he’s never been hit, never punched anyone,” he said. “He was like scared. I’m like, ‘Oh, CNN fake news.’ Started picking on the guy.”
Despite the rough introduction, Shields admitted his opinion of the reporter shifted over time.
“You know what? I kind of like Donie,” he said. “I kind of liked him after this. I ha te to admit it. He kind of grew on me after I bullied him around.”
He went on to describe how reluctant O’Sullivan was to participate in any physical exchange.
“He did not like the idea of this,” Shields said. “He kept trying to say no and his producers, I mentioned it, they’re like, ‘Yeah, great idea.’ And I started putting the gloves on him and he kept being like, ‘No, no.’ As you can see, he didn’t even change out of his clothes. I was trying to get him to. I forced the gloves on him, basically forced him in the cage.”
Once inside, Shields said he tried to provoke a reaction but got none. “I got so angry because he wouldn’t hit me,” he said. “He was like running away. I was about to punch him because he wouldn’t hit me. He was scared.”
Shields continued, “I had my hands down trying to get him to hit me like hit me and the dude was just like falling over, just too scared to hit it. It’s like bro, how can you not just hit me? I’m giving you a free one and he was just too scared to hit it.”
Reflecting on the broadcast, Shields acknowledged that the segment turned out more balanced than he expected. “Honestly, I think he was really fair for a CNN interview and even just the edit right now,” he said. “It wasn’t obviously it was edited because it was a longer interview, but it was fairly a fair interview. I mean, I guess it was kind of hard to make me look bad because I just always speak my real opinions and truth. So it’s hard to make you look bad when you do that.”
He ended on a lighter note, taking a playful jab at O’Sullivan’s profession. “At least I don’t work for CNN like poor Donie,” he said.
