Known for technical grappling and amazing cardio, the lifelong vegetarian captured the Shooto Championship in 2004 and won the Rumble on the Rock Grand Prix Tournament in '05.

In his last start, Shields (jakeshields.proelite.com) scored a surprisingly easy first-round knockout over BJ Penn's Renato "Charuto'' Verissimo on "Uprising.'' The referee stopped the fight at 4:00 with Shields on top of Verissimo and landing a series of unanswered punches.

"That fight went pretty good,'' the highly regarded Shields said. "I came in and threw a couple kicks, a couple punches and ended up getting in the clinch. He ended up tripping me and taking me down but I didn't want to be on bottom so I bounced right back up

"From there we were in the clinch and I took him down, opened up his guard and passed, got mount, and started raining down punches on him.''

A beast at welterweight, Shields has a lot of respect for Pyle.

"Mike is really good,'' Shields said. "I've been watching his tapes and he is really well rounded. He has good standup, a good ground game and cardio, but I think I'm going to be too much for him. I think it will take a little longer to wear him down, but eventually I'll break him.''

Pyle, 21, who trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, will be seeking his third consecutive victory. In his last outing, Pyle recorded an impressive, unanimous decision over Aaron Wetherspoon on the June 22 "Shamrock vs. Baroni" undercard at San Jose, Calif.

In his start before last, Pyle registered a 1:55, first-round submission (rear naked choke hold) over Ross Ebanez on the historic EliteXC "DESTINY'' undercard on Feb. 10, 2007.

Pyle (mikepyle.proelite.com), who has experience in Tae Kwon Do, judo, karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has been in against tough, risky opposition and is back to fighting at 170 pounds (down from 185). The drop in weight has proven to be an excellent move.

"A fight with Shields has been talked about for months, and now that it is here, I am really looking forward to it,'' Pyle said. "I think my striking is a bit sharper than his and I feel I'm a physically stronger athlete, but he might possibly have an edge on me with the wrestling.''