St. Pierre-Shields Signed for UFC 129
As expected, Georges St. Pierre will put his title on the line against No. 1 contender Jake Shields in the main event of UFC 129.
The bout was made official Thursday by the UFC during the most recent episode of its “Ultimate Insider” Web series. The event, which will mark the promotion's first trip to Ontario, will take place at the Rogers Center in Toronto on April 30.
St. Pierre is a champion in need of no introduction. The French-Canadian is a two-time UFC welterweight champion and has soundly beaten every challenger placed in front of him during his most recent stint with the belt. He comes fresh off a dominant victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 in Montreal in which the champion pummeled the challenger with a stiff left jab for five rounds en route to a one-sided unanimous decision.
Prior to besting Koscheck, “Rush” rode heavy-handed Brit Dan Hardy to an easy decision win at UFC 111 in March. St. Pierre, 29, has lost just once in the last six years and holds victories over Thiago Alves, Jon Fitch and longtime welterweight king Matt Hughes (twice).
Shields rides a 15-fight winning streak heading into his shot at the title. A former EliteXC and Strikeforce champion, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt made his UFC debut in October, edging out Martin Kampmann in a razor-thin split decision. Prior to that fight, the Cesar Gracie product outlasted Dan Henderson in his last bout with Strikeforce, surviving an early onslaught to earn a hard-fought unanimous decision.
Shields owns notable wins over Jason Miller, Robbie Lawler and Paul Daley. He holds 11 of his 26 professional victories by submission.
UFC 129 is also rumored to feature a light heavyweight scrap between former titleholders Lyoto Machida and Randy Couture as well as a lightweight tilt pitting former WEC champion Benson Henderson against Canadian submission specialist Mark Bocek.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
by Mike Whitman (mwhitman@sherdog.com)
