Back to the MMA Newsfeed

Jake Shields: An Unexpected Journey

About the only color in the sterile, white hospital room came from an unusual place. It emanated from the fighter sitting awake in his bed groping at the gauzy figure around him, more specifically, his eyes. A distorted, purplish hue had already taken shape around swollen, tear-filled, mini-mountains of stretched flesh that jutted up beyond his forehead. He was broken, and his mumbled words were depressing.

What hurt Jake Shields more than anything that night was the feeling that something he loved, his passion, had robbed him. Everything he did right was defeated by an opponent who did everything wrong.