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Free agency is almost at reach for Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields. His exclusive negotiation period with the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion has expired, though negotiations with the company remain ongoing.

Jack Shields, Jake’s manager and father spoke today about beginning non-exclusive negotiations tomorrow.

"The options are all good," Jack Shields said, though he did not confirm whether Strikeforce had yet offered a new contract.

Exclusive negotiating periods are put in place to protect a promotion's investment in a fighter and are common to high-profile talent. It is then followed by a clause called a “matching period”. This basically means for an unknown period of time, Strikeforce can choose to match any offer that he may receive from the UFC.

One thing that is unique about Shields' Strikeforce contract, which was secured through the promotion's acquisitions of the now-defunct EliteXC organization's assets, it does not have a "champion's clause," which would have automatically extended his contract following successive title defenses as the organization's middleweight champion.

UFC president Dana White has repeatedly expressed his desire to sign Shields as soon as the exclusive period ends, though after this past weekend's UFC 114 event the executive said he didn't really know what the exact terms of the Strikeforce champion's deal.

"I'm not sure," White said. "I can't talk to him while he's under contract. We don't play like that.

"I don't think it's rocket science. Everybody knows he doesn't want to be there anymore. They suck, we don't, and he's coming here."

According to Jack Shield’s, the switch over to the UFC is not yet a done deal.

"We haven't made up our mind," he said. "Both places have a lot to offer."

Jake Shields, 31, fulfilled the terms of his contract in his successful defense of his 185-pound title against Dan Henderson in April at "Strikeforce: Nashville." Oddly enough Strikeforce did not exercise an option to fight Shields again before the time on his contract expired.

Shields' successful defense was disrupted by a post-event brawl involving several Strikeforce fighters including Shields, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz.

Prior to his fight with Henderson, Shields (25-4-1 MMA, 3-0 SF) said he wished to be a free agent once again with a goal of facing the sport's best fighters – including UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. He did emphasize that he was definitely happy with his current promotional home. His plan after the Henderson fight was to take some time off and then deal with the contract negotiations.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker last month told SI.com that he was undecided on whether to keep the middleweight champion in the fold.

"Can I guarantee that we won't release him? No, I can't," Coker said. "It depends on how the last two or three weeks of negotiation go. I won't be able to answer until negotiations are over. Is it a possibility? It's a possibility.

"If we're not going to be in the Jake Shields business, let's just move on. That's how I feel. This is a business. Jake has a career and a life and it's not fair to him. But Jake is a guy we've appreciated having him as part of the family.”

cowboyronnie wrote:courageous guy to move up and face Lawler and Hendo but his stand-up is absolute ****. he will lose as many big fights as he wins, I've got to think. and after the first KO loss he takes, it may be all up in the air.

he almost lost to one of the bullies on Bully Beatdown, FFS.

Cammo101 wrote:

cowboyronnie wrote:courageous guy to move up and face Lawler and Hendo but his stand-up is absolute ****. he will lose as many big fights as he wins, I've got to think. and after the first KO loss he takes, it may be all up in the air.

he almost lost to one of the bullies on Bully Beatdown, FFS.

Who needs stand-up when you have the ability to outwrestle Dan freaking Henderson? I do not see many guys at 170 or 185 in the UFC that he can not beat using his GSP style of takedown and submit when available.

Cammo101 wrote:Shields and Sonnen are the 2 most consistently underrated fighters in MMA. They continue to beat guys people say will beat them, and continue to come out the other end as an underdog in their next fight.

How people can still question Shields at this point is beyond me.

cowboyronnie wrote:Exactly, there's nothing that separates him from Kos or Fitch...other than that he doesn't have their stand-up abilities.

Cammo, you think he's going to put Kos on his back??? Please. And he sure as **** can't box with him.

He'll be carefully matched so that we don't have to have this confirmed, I'm sure. He's going to carry a heavy pricetag evidently.

REDDzone wrote:Shields is like a rich man's Fitch IMO, which is a compliment seeing as how Fitch is possibly (probably?) the UFC's second best fighter in a stacked division. They're both sort of boring, and mostly wrestle, but Shields has better submissions IMO.

I'd still like Shields to go to the UFC. I know I've said it before but I'd rather watch GSP tool Shields than just start fighting everyone he's already fought again and again (Kos, Fitch, Alves, etc.).

Cammo101 wrote:

cowboyronnie wrote:Exactly, there's nothing that separates him from Kos or Fitch...other than that he doesn't have their stand-up abilities.

Cammo, you think he's going to put Kos on his back??? Please. And he sure as **** can't box with him.

He'll be carefully matched so that we don't have to have this confirmed, I'm sure. He's going to carry a heavy pricetag evidently.

My point is not that Shields is an unbeatable killer. It is that he is chronically under respected. All anyone talked about was that Hendo would kill him because no one puts Hendo on his back. Shields did just that, and immediately everyone started calling Hendo old.

Sure, Kos and Fitch would be tough matchups for Shields. But, they are tough matchups for anyone. Shields, unlike Kos and Fitch, has the BJJ to win when on the bottom. Also, I think he is on par with Fitch as far as wrestling.

I am not saying he necessarily beats those guys, but he can, and he is on par with them and the other great 170's just below GSP. Or 185's just below Silva for that matter.

It just boggles my mind that a guy can go 6 years without losing, win 14 in a row, with wins over the likes of Robbie Lawler, Dan Henderson, Mayhem Miller, Paul Daley, Nick Thompson, Mike Pyle, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, Mach Sakurai and Toby Imada and we are still debating if he is elite.

Cammo101 wrote:Rumors are rampant that Shields has signed with the UFC.

Posey H8er wrote:Nick Diaz needs to make the jump as well.