Current Strikeforce champion Jake Shields has recently returned home to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue his camp with the Cesar Gracie Fight Team.  The Strikeforce superstar enters the cage next month, and is working with an extremely strong team in preparation.

Shields trains alongside Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, UFC fighter Nate Diaz, BJJ brown belt fighter Dan Marks, and other strong fighters in the camp.

“We’ve been training together for so many years that it feels really good for all of us to have the belts (Shields, Diaz and Melendez),” Shields recently told MMA HQ during an interview.  “We train with some of the other fighters around the Bay Area and people drop in from time to time.  So we’re always mixing it up.”

Fighters such as Melendez also receive support from the Scrap Pack, while Shields and other members of the team occasionally cross train with the strong American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) camp.

Shields faces his biggest challenge in his first Strikeforce middleweight defense, when he fights former UFC and PRIDE superstar Dan Henderson.

“I always train hard and always treat all of my opponents like they’re the best and in this case, Henderson is one of the top fighters in the world.  I’ll make a few small changes based on Henderson’s style.  Mainly I’m working with some bigger guys.”

Shields recently wrapped up filming the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, serving as one of Chuck Liddell’s assistant coaches.

“The Liddell coaching team worked really well with each other, so I had a lot of fun and was able to get in some good training.  It was a good place to start getting ready for this fight..  Chuck is training for a fight and I got to train with the other coaches, like Olympic gold medal boxer Howard Davis Jr., John Hackleman and Scott Epstein — and guys on the show were big, hard working fighters.

“Vegas is a good place to find training partners.  At night I trained several times with Robert Drysdale and Forrest Griffin.”

After his contract with Strikeforce expires, many MMA fans would rather see Shields jump to the UFC’s deep welterweight division – but the BJJ black belt and American Jiu Jitsu fighter remains focused on Henderson only.

“I just focus on whatever is my next fight, so I’m training hard right now.  At the moment Strikeforce is treating me good, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Regardless of Shields possibly joining the UFC to one day challenge Georges St. Pierre and other top welterweights, he must first deal with Henderson.  The championship fight will headline Strikeforce: Nashville on Saturday, April 17.

Shields wanted to thank the fans and his sponsors: Tapout, Tapout Sports Nutrition, and Rockstar.  He also urged fans to visit his official Web site and his official Twitter account.