POLL: Shields will face GSP at UFC 129. Is he the best choice? (updated)
Respected MMA reporter Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Georges St-Pierre will face Jake Shields at UFC 129 at the Rogers Center in Toronto on April 30th (update - Nick Murdocco and I confirmed with GSP's Head Trainer Firas Zahabi today while guest hosting the Tieman Show that the fight is confirmed) GSP is coming off a major statement victory by brutally dismantling former number 1 contender Josh Koscheck, utterly dominating him for the full 5 rounds. St-Pierre is now in the midst of several UFC records, including winning 30 straight rounds, he has tied Matt Hughes for most defences of a UFC WW title, and being one of the biggest PPV draws.
Jake Shields is coming off a controversial split decision victory against Martin Kampmann, in which the BJJ expert was outperformed on the ground. Shields has not officially lost a match since 2004, and has racked up 15 wins since that time over the likes of Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley and Yushin Okami. However, most of the mainstream MMA fans would know of Shields is that he was a highly publicized and talked about fighter with world class ground skills who had a disappointed debut in the UFC. Shields is currently ranked 4th by Sherdog at Welterweight, but St-Pierre has already dismantled Fitch (ranked #2), Alves (ranked #3), Koscheck (ranked #5) and Hardy (ranked #8).
St-Pierre has made no secret about his desire to face Anderson Silva in what would be the biggest fight in UFC history. Silva has been begging for a fighter to challenge him, including during some of his fights directly to his opponents. And While Chael Sonnen actually gave Silva almost more than he could handle, Sonnen was later found guilty of having taken performance enhancing drugs. For some reason, the UFC appears to be unwilling to let their poster boy in GSP take on a fighter who they feel is simply too big for St-Pierre, an assertion which GSP and his camp have tried to respond to by bulking up GSP to over 200 pounds.
Jon Fitch would love to have another crack at St-Pierre, and at this point, arguably deserves it more than Jake Shields. Since losing to GSP in 2008, Fitch has rattled off 5 straight unanimous decision victories against fighters like Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago and top contender Thiago Alves. However, the UFC has already shown a history of either keeping boring fighters like Fitch off the main card, or even cutting them outright.
Lastly, undefeated Dong Hyun Kim made some waves last night at UFC 125 when he immediately challenged Georges St-Pierre for the title after his win against Nate Diaz. Before that, he beat another UFC golden boy in Amir Sadollah and Canadian TJ Grant.
We want to get your take on who you think St-Pierre should have fought next.
Please note you will be taken to another website to cast your vote.
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