Shields has fighting chance vs. St. Pierre

When Jake Shields steps into the cage to fight Georges St. Pierre on Saturday in Toronto, more than 55,000 fans will be on hand to watch and exponentially more will be tuned in around the world.

Few are likely to believe Shields has a chance to beat the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion.

But don't count St. Pierre among those who view Shields as a huge underdog in the main event of UFC 129. St. Pierre, a 4-1 favorite, said he thinks Shields would have beaten any of the contenders he has defeated during his title reign.

"So when I say that, 'This fight, the bar is raised higher than it's ever been before,' I'm not lying about it,' " St. Pierre said. "This is foolish. This is like a trap for me. I'm not going to fall into that trap. The odds are ridiculous. I can't believe people out in the world sometimes. They don't even know the sport, you know what I mean? They have no idea who they're dealing with."

St. Pierre will be dealing with a fighter who has won 15 straight bouts but only one since finally signing with the UFC last year. Shields has breezed through just about every organization outside the UFC. He was a champion in Shooto, Rumble on the Rock and Elite XC. Fighting at middleweight, he left Strikeforce with the belt still around his waist.

Through it all, he had his sights set on the UFC and, in particular, St. Pierre.

"Fighting GSP is something I wanted for years. I've been asking for it for about four years," Shields said. "It's something I definitely wanted. I want to test myself against the best, and I think he certainly is the best."

Shields, 32, made his UFC debut and secured the title shot with a controversial decision over Martin Kampmann in October.

It wasn't the kind of impressive performance Shields wanted to deliver for UFC fans who were seeing him for the first time, but there were extenuating circumstances. Shields was dropping back to welterweight and had a difficult time shedding pounds late in camp, leaving him in less than ideal fighting shape.

"I made a huge mistake, which is 100 percent my fault, last time," he said. "I learn from my mistakes, so I'm certainly not going to do that again."

St. Pierre has had little trouble with anyone, having won eight consecutive fights in the UFC, including five successful defenses since reclaiming the belt.

Contender after contender has been touted as the one who would finally give St. Pierre trouble, and each has failed. Again, a challenger is being hyped as a threat to the champion's dominance.

Shields insists he is different.

"I think there's a lot of differences between me and those guys," he said. "One, I mentally refuse to lose and always find a way to win. I got more heart and conditioning, and also I think my grappling is at a completely different level than those guys."

Shields created his own brand of grappling he calls American Jiu-Jitsu, which is more of a wrestling-based jiu-jitsu style.

He should be able to neutralize the well-rounded St. Pierre at least on the ground. Shields might be at a disadvantage in the standup, but he said he has a game plan and is prepared to execute it.

"Most guys you can watch them break down and you can see some big holes and figure out where to exploit them, and Georges is a guy with only a few small holes. Of course, he still does have his weaknesses," Shields said.

"I don't look at myself as an underdog going into this fight. I look at us as two guys going in even, and in my mind I'm going to go out there and win. If I was looking at it thinking I can't beat him, I'd have no chance."

And that would make him like most of the fans who will be watching.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.