St. Pierre vs. Shields Is Official For UFC 129

UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields

Welterweight title clash headlines largest UFC event of all time

Get ready, Toronto: you’re going to see a title fight in the first UFC event in your city.

UFC officials today announced that the long-anticipated welterweight title clash between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields will headline UFC 129 at the Rogers Centre. The announcement was made via the “UFC Ultimate Insider” online show.

“UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields” takes place April 30. A light heavyweight clash between Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida will also take place on the card, and the first-ever Canadian UFC Fan Expo will coincide with the event.

St. Pierre recently scored his fifth consecutive UFC title defense with a lopsided beating of Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 in Montreal. Fans and media alike have clamored for St. Pierre to move up to middleweight for a dream fight with champion Anderson Silva. The pair are generally considered to be the top two pound for pound fighters in the sport. A win over Shields would essentially leave St. Pierre without any credible challengers remaining at welterweight, clearing the way for the potential Silva fight.

Shields made his UFC debut in October with a narrow win over Martin Kampmann. Prior to the fight, however, Shields reigned as the Strikeforce middleweight champion. He owns a 15-fight winning streak with victories over notables such as Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami and Dan Henderson.

Also scheduled for UFC 129: Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson and Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin.

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