UFC 150: Jake Shields 'lifting weights' to 'bulk up' for Ed Herman fight on Aug. 11

Who says you can't go home again?

As a middleweight, Jake Shields was nearly flawless, and turned in a performance good enough to beat Dan Henderson to retain the Strikeforce 185-pound title. As a welterweight, he was barely mediocre, and got knocked out by Jake Ellenberger to get eliminated from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 170-pound title race.

That could explain his recent decision to head north for his next fight, a middleweight match-up against Ed Herman at the UFC 150: "Henderson vs. Edgar 2" pay-per-view (PPV) event on August 11, 2012 from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

So how does the Vegan warrior get back into form? By lifting weights, of course, something he tells US Combat Sports he's been doing to "bulk up" in preparation for his return in the "Mile High City."

Those comments, after the jump.

"Everything is going really good. I'm in the early fight prep. Just doing a lot of fundamental striking and wrestling. Lifting a lot of weights. I am trying to bulk up, because I am moving up a weight class. I am a vegetarian, and mostly vegan; I am not strict on the vegan, but I try to eat a mostly vegan diet. It gets tough using protein, because a lot of them use whey, not to mention a lot of chemicals and all kinds of stuff I don't like putting in my body. Sun Warrior got in touch with my manager, and said they had a product out to try. It's great. It's all vegan, and doesn't have a bunch of additives I don't want in my protein. I started using it, and it is all I have used ever since."

Shields (27-6) narrowly squeaked past Martin Kampmann in his Octagon debut in late 2010. That win, along with his accomplishments in Strikeforce, earned him a title fight against reigning champion Georges St. Pierre the following year.

"Rush" was able to secure the unanimous decision victory and Shields' rebound fight, a main event against Jake Ellenberger in New Orleans last September, ended abysmally, after "The Juggernaut" knocked him stiff and right out of title contention.

The former EliteXC champ traded blows with Yoshihiro Akiyama in Japan earlier this year to claw his way back into the win column; however, the winning performance wasn't enough to keep him at 170 pounds and now he'll see what kind of impact he can have on his old stomping grounds.

Will it be a short night against "Short Fuse?"