Despite a respectable 3-1(1) record in his past five fights, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields has been released by the UFC, MMA Fighting reported Monday morning.

Shields came to the UFC from Strikeforce in mid-2010, just months removed from a stunning upset over Dan Henderson to capture the Strikeforce middleweight strap.

The Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt, riding a 14-fight win streak, looked flat in his return to welterweight against Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 in October 2010, but still managed to eke out a controversial split decision win.

Nevertheless, 15 straight victories was enough to give Shields a chance to dethrone Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129 in April 2011, where he lost a lackluster decision.

Shields received some credit for winning at least one round on all three of the judges scorecards, the first to do so in several years, but would never return to title contention after that.

Shields went 3-3(1) before being cut, suffering lopsided losses to Jake Ellenberger and Hector Lombard and defeating Yoshihiro Akiyama, Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia.

He also defeated Ed Herman at UFC 150 in August 2012, but the result was switched to a no-contest when Shields failed his post-fight drug test for an undisclosed banned substance.

Shields was the no. 11 welterweight in the UFC’s official rankings prior to being released.