According to odds makers Georges St. Pierre is a 3-to-1 favorite, once again, making Jake Shields the underdog. Why the odds are against Jake Shieldsagain, defies reason but what is certain is that UFC 129 is set to be a extravagant event. To give you an idea to the magnitude of UFC 129: roughly around 30,000 tickets to the event sold out in less than an hour. The demand was still so high that Dana White, president of the UFC, added roughly 15,000 more seats, and once those seats were available, they sold out immediately. 55,000 tickets were sold, making UFC 129 the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) event in the history of all North America.
Why chose Toronto to host such an event? MMA recently passed legislation making it legal to host events in the province of Ontario, which is where Toronto lies, and it is been said the province is 'UFC crazy'. The original allotted seat capacity was around 25,000 to 30,000, but the Ontario fan base is gargantuan and is unheralded to the rest of the world, so more seats were needed to be available to satisfy the incredible demand. Another thing that is certain about this event is that the people of Ontario love their MMA. Consequently, the fight card is filled with the 'who's-who' in mixed martial arts and as the event made history, so will the fight card.
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| From L to R: Couture, Machida, GSP, Shields |
The fight card consists of a slew of recognizable fighters such as Nate Diaz, Ben Henderson, Mark Bocek, Mark Hominick, and Jose Aldo. But the fighters that the fans and all the MMA community have paid and will pay to see are Lyoto Machida, Randy Couture, Jake Shields and George St. Pierre. If these names are not enough to consider this event a huge spectacle than, I don't know what is. The fighters mentioned have a track record of, not only winning, but of putting on a great show for the fans. Not one of these fighters has a had a 'boring fight'; only in the eyes of the fans that aren't interested in the technical part of the sport but only the knockouts, have found them less stellar. To give it that 'home feel', some fighters identify Canada as their home country - Mark Hominick, Mark Bocek and, of course, the most recognizable one of them all, Georges St. Pierre.
Before the main event, Randy Couture will fight Lyoto Machida in a non-title bout. The significance of this fight lies with Randy because he has said that he will retire after this fight. "It's been an ongoing transition for me," he said. "I kind of want to go out on my own terms and decide when enough is enough. I think that time has come." Even though, this will be his last fight, no one should count out the 5x UFC Champion in two divisions. Lyoto Machida knows this as well and has said that he will evade the clinch game with Randy and will instead, create angles for his unorthodox karate style to be imposed on the ageless wonder.
"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiits Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime", Bruce Buffer announces emphatically to the roaring cheer of all 55,000 Torontonians. What to expect from the #1 contender, Jake Shields, which he's said in an interview...“Me and Georges have mutual respect, but come fight time, we’re going to be going hard at each other. I’m certainly going to be going after him, and I hope he does the same.” If these words come to fruition, than ladies and gentleman, expect this fight to be filled with fireworks. As for the champ, most fans know what he says about opponents, almost robot-like - "This test against [insert fighter's name here] will be the toughest of my career", but one thing is for certain GSP will try his darndest to not let his home country down. GSP's previous fights have been in his home country, which for some, seem unfair because he always fights with the whole crowd behind him. During an interview, Jake Shields was asked how he felt about fighting in front of a 'Pro-GSP' crowd, he said :
“The home country, of course, it helps [St. Pierre] a little bit, but it’s really not that big of a deal. I’ve fought lots of people in their hometowns and home countries. It’s going to be me and Georges in there, fighting. The crowd can do whatever they want, but it doesn’t bother me that much.”
Why those fickle fans and experts have already counted out a man who has not lost since 2004, has a 15 fight win streak and has defeated opponents equal, if not better, than the ones GSP has fought defies reason. Come April 30, 2011, it will be the day of reckoning for GSP or a day of jubilation for Jake Shields!! Who are you rooting for?
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