Shields Submits Lawler In First Round

There have been some stunning moments when lighter weight fighters move up to face bigger challenges in the sport of MMA. Another big bout made the list on Saturday night in front of 8,867 fans in St. Louis as top ten welterweight Jake Shields moved up to 182 pounds and submitted the No. 2 ranked middleweight in the world in Robbie Lawler.

The bout headlined Saturday's Strikeforce "Lawler vs. Shields" event.

It appeared early on that Shields was going to struggle in the fight, as he was unable to secure his first takedown attempt when Lawler outmuscled him and kept the match standing.

Shields tried to settle into his stand-up game, throwing some solid body kicks and a few jabs to keep Lawler guessing in the opening part of the round.

A notoriously slow starter, Lawler kept pursuing Shields, but never unloaded any heavy punches, even though it appeared he had his opponent panicked for a moment when he couldn't land the takedown.

In a sport where the momentum can shift in just seconds, Shields seized his opportunity when Lawler ducked his head down in the clinch. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt sunk in a tight guillotine choke. Shields wrenched up on the hold, and while Lawler fought valiantly to get out of the choke, it was just too much and he tapped out at just over two minutes into the first round.

"I got a chance to get on his neck, and once I got it, I wasn't letting go," Shields said about the submission after the fight.