Jake Shields is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC and Strikeforce promotions. He is a former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and a one-time Elite XC Welterweight Champion. Shields has also competed in grappling tournaments and has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
He’s pivoted into being something of a conservative influencer as of late.
Twitter even deleted his tweets and screenshots of them due to their inflammatory nature.
Shields’ comments have gained him a reputation as a somewhat of a troll, with him referring to the trans community as “the alphabet people”.
Transgender martial artist Alana McLaughlin previously has called out Shields for his comments, and he has previously criticized her for competing against biological women.
Shields’ grappling incident with UFC star Mike Jackson, which he shared online, was also criticized by McLaughlin. But now it seems like there’s a bigger plan in place to confront shields. A longtime MMA writer has taken to challenging Jake Shields on his seminar tour.
Shields is apparently coming to Downtown Jiu jitsu in Chigago at which point a group of trans rights supporters plans to confront him. It’s unclear how much training Cepeda in particular has but it’s doubtful he would be able to successfully confront a man who competed at welterweight in the UFC.
When further prodded about the participation in the seminar, the journalist appeared to walk back some of his initial eagerness to confront Shields.
Elias Cepeda is an American author, journalist, and mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran having lost a single amateur bout he was in.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Portland, Oregon. Cepeda began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing in 2001, and eventually transitioned to MMA.
He has competed in amateur MMA bouts and has also worked as a coach, training practitioners in various disciplines. Cepeda is known for his work as a writer and journalist, covering combat sports and culture.
He has written for several publications, including Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports, and USA Today, and has also authored books on MMA, including “The Tao of Gritz: The Art of Living Life as a Martial Arts Warrior”. Cepeda is respected in the MMA community for his insights and analysis of the sport, and for his contributions to combat sports journalism.