Torres says Shields is afraid of Silva and may struggle at 170

Jake Shields finally jumped on board with the UFC last week and has been the recipient of some criticism from several directions. Some called his fighting style boring. Others wonder why the middleweight champ from Strikeforce is fighting for his new boss at welterweight. Miguel Torres, a former champ down at 135, suggested that Shields was afraid to fight Anderson Silva.

"I think he's getting out of 185 because he's a little bit afraid of Anderson (Silva)," Torres said during last week's stint as a guest host on ESPN2's "MMA Live" (starts at 26:30 left mark). "Anderson's a tough guy to fight at that weight class and he's thinking St. Pierre's an easier fight."

ESPN was nice enough to include me in the discussion. I disagree with Torres. Shields' biggest strength is his grappling. Takedown defense might be Silva's only weakness. So in theory St. Pierre, with his excellent MMA wrestling, is actually a more difficult challenge for Shields. Shields explained to MMAWeekly Radio that it was simply a case of looking at the quickest path to a title shot (video below).

"Obviously if I'm close to getting a title shot it's a huge factor," Shields commented about his weight class choice. "I'm not really sure if this is going to be a number one contender's fight or not, it hasn’t been mentioned to me, but there's a good chance if I go out there and look really good doing it, it's definitely a possibility."

He might be right. If GSP beats Koscheck, the UFC may be looking for a fresh face to step up. That could be the winner of Shields and his opponent at UFC 121 in October, Martin Kampmann.

Torres also didn't the like the choice because he believes Shields is now a natural middleweight.

"I think it might be too much of a weight cut," Torres said on MMA Live. Sometimes trying to cut that it's a little bit too much for you and I think Shields is going to find out right off the bat. He'a a great wrestler but at that weight class, cutting that weight is going to be rough," said Torres.

Shake weight finally lands an MMA spokesperson

Every guy's favorite piece of exercise equipment, Shake Weight, has arrived on the MMA scene. Not really. But one jokester posted a GIF of heavyweight powerhouse Shane Carwin using Shake Weight. As "Saturday Night Live" pointed out, it seems like a product that might be more appropriate for an MMA spokesperson on the female side.

Munoz looking to turn the corner and get rid of the junker

There's going to be some competition for the fight-night bonuses at UFC on Versus 2. Tuesday, we told you about John Howard and his 1994 Honda Accord. Wednesday, it's Mark Munoz and his 1992 Honda Accord. It's proves two things, Honda's last and the crew of contenders on this card are still climbing the ladder to riches.

Munoz, a former All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, was having trouble supporting his wife and four kids. That's while he was the wrestling coach at UC Davis. So he decided to get into prize fighting and mixed martial arts.

"There were times where I couldn't even provide for my family," Munoz told the Orange County Register. "I accumulated much debt. The car got repossessed. The house foreclosed."

Munoz (8-1) seems to be on the right track now as he preps to face Yushin Okami (24-5, 8-2 UFC). He's entering his fifth fight in the UFC and owns his own gym, Reign in Lake Forest, Calif. But his frugal ways continue, he still has that old Honda.

He also trains a lot with Blackhouse MMA, the famed Southern California gym that houses Anderson Silva, Junior Dos Santos, Lyoto Machida and the Nogueira Brothers. Munoz has served as a stand-in for Chael Sonnen as Silva preps to defend his title next weekend at UFC 117. Silva also has a win over Okami on his ledger. Munoz said, via Examiner.com:

"Anderson actually told me that after sparring with me, and after fighting Okami, Yushin has nothing for me. He knows what Okami has, so we've been working really hard to understand how he moves and how to counter back. He's got a lot of great stuff that he's showing me."

Okami was once considered one of the top-five middleweights in the UFC. He's a solid ground and pound fighter but his takedown defense was a big issue two fights ago against Sonnen. That would seem to play right into Munoz's hands. Okami did show a more dangerous standup game in his last fight against Lucio Linhares.  

Silva puts on a UFC 112-like performance during UFC 117 media session

Boorish, disrespectful, clownish, obnoxious, rude and even insubordinate. Those are just some of the derogatory terms used to describe Anderson Silva's behavior during the main event at UFC 112. Between the gyrating, dancing and his failure to engage during much of the fight, Silva sent Dana White over the edge, disrespected the UAE royal family (his new bosses) and turned off many fans. Silva showed a little contrition in the immediate aftermath but during a UFC 117 teleconference, to preview next weekend's main event, it was good to find out the old Silva is still alive and well.

Showing once again he doesn't get it, the UFC middleweight champ made gave plenty of one-word answers and mocked most of the questions. It's the fight game. Part of your job is to sell the fight and in doing so raise your own profile. It's fine Silva's a jerk, we get that. But at least embrace it.

Floyd Mayweather is a genius. He gets it. As long as you pick a side, Floyd is happy. That's why he's making $25 million a fight. Silva is on the opposite end of the spectrum. His approach during an incredible 11-fight win streak is still why almost no one outside of MMA has any idea who he is. Chael Sonnen, who is the antithesis of Silva with the media and fans, gets it and wrapped things up nicely. 

"He comes on here and says something stupid as if he's saying some sort of Nobel Prize winning statement. He truly believes the answer he gave few minutes ago, that people are tuning in to see a fight, and not see anything else. He really means that,"  Sonnen said (5:15 mark). "He feels like he's taking the moral high ground."

Just as he's been doing for the last few months, Sonnen talked lots of trash during the call. Silva chose to basically mock every question he was asked and then hid behind the excuse that he refused to get into a war of words with his opponent. One problem: the majority of the questions were legitimate questions about the fight and had nothing to do with Sonnen flapping his gums.

"He couldn't be anymore wrong," Sonnen said. "Does he know anything about business? That's not what people are tuning in to see. People don't just tune in to see people fight. They want to know why they're fighting? He couldn't have this industry anymore backward." 

Silva came out firing blanks and it never got better. AOL Fanhouse's Mike Chiapetta then pushed more (2:50 mark) by invoking his best Joe Pesci from "Goodfellas" (VIDEO - 2:50 mark). Silva's manager/translator Ed Soares said he had trouble understanding the question. 

The one time Silva showed passion was when he said he didn't care about White's opinion.After UFC 112, White said Silva could face termination.

You get the feeling this is all going to end badly. Maybe we're headed toward another cold war with Silva on the outside looking in, like Tito v. Dana.  

Down to earth Howard ready for next step

John Howard has been yeoman-like during his early days in the UFC. Sure the dude can talk trash with the best of them, but it's his down-to-earth nature that may take him into deep waters in the welterweight division.

Howard has slowly worked his way up the ladder with wins over Dennis Hallman, Daniel Roberts, Tamdan McCrory and Chris Wilson. All solid fighters but none spectacular. He was staring at an opportunity for a signature win against the highly touted Anthony Johnson but that fight was cancelled because of a Johnson injury. But you didn't hear Howard whine and he isn't complaining that his next opponent is a relative no name. In fact, he's giving Jake Ellenberger an unusual level of respect. From Heavy.com:

"I’m expecting him to come out hardcore and I’m prepared for that," Howard said. "I know he has heavy hands but I have heavy hands too. If he wants to brawl with a boxer then all power to him. Obviously I’m nervous, but I’m actually excited too. We have main card, on TV, and we’re going to have some fun."

You'd expect that kind of straight talk from a guy who grew up in a gritty section of New England. The guy has made pretty nice money thus far with the promotion, having earned two bonuses on fight night. Yet he still hasn't replaced his 1994 Honda Accord.

"It’s messed up. The locks are messed up, the tires. It’s my favorite car. I love it," Howard said. "That’s what makes me happy. That’s the type of guy I am. I don’t need certain things to make an impression. I tell people be happy with what you got. I am too."

Howard (14-4, 4-0 UFC) and Ellenberger (22-5, 1-1 UFC) square off on Sunday during UFC on Versus 2. Ellenberger has less UFC experience than Howard but his competition may have been stronger, splitting fights against Mike Pyle and Carlos Condit.