After newly crowned middleweight champion Jake Shields admitted Saturday that he thinks he’s a stronger fighter at 170 pounds and might go back down there, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker didn’t bat an eyelash.

“That’s really up to Jake,” said Coker. “We’ll have that conversation, but at 185, we have a lot of great guys to make fights.”

Coker even offered potential opponents for Shields in both divisions.

“I can see him and (Ronaldo) Jacare (Souza) fighting in the future,” he said of Shields. “I can see him and Matt Lindland, who we recently signed, fighting in the future. But the athlete, it’s really his choice and if he wants to drop down, we won’t hound you.”

At welterweight, Coker suggested Dream welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis, Shinya Aoki, and Hayato Sakurai for Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Shields. Zaromskis recently signed with Strikeforce, while Aoki was announced as a future competitor for the promotion in early 2010 under a partnership with Japanese promotion Dream. Strikeforce has not announced any specific plans to utilize Sakurai yet.

During a teleconference call in October, Coker said that he’d request that the promotion’s champions defend their crowns at least two times a year. Shields told Sherdog.com on Saturday that he’d like to follow in the footsteps of former dual-division Pride champion Dan Henderson, and seize Strikeforce’s welterweight crown as well.