UFC President Dana White breaks down the UFC Welterweight title bout between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields leading to UFC 129’s debut in Toronto. The April 30th card will be the most well-attended UFC in history with over 55,000 tickets already sold for the Rogers Centre.
“(People not giving Jake Shields enough credit) bums George out, because people don’t realize what a tough test this is for George. The hardcore (fans) I think get it.”
“The thing I’m interested in is, Georges St. Pierre chews wrestlers up and spits them out. Jake Shields is a different kind of wrestler. He out wrestled Dan Henderson, you name it. I don’t even think Jake Shields mom expected him to beat Dan Henderson. Nobody expected that. Jake Shields is a winner and he finds a way to win.”
Head trainers Cesar Gracie and Firas Zahabi also break down Saturday night’s main event on the Gross Point Blank ESPN podcast (audio) [transcribed by Fight Opinion]
Cesar Gracie – “GSP’s never fought someone on this kind of level in his life. He just hasn’t. A lot of people will point out to the guys GSP has fought, Matt Serra, B.J. Penn, but those are guys that can make 155. Jake cannot make 155 unless you cut his legs off or something, it’s not going to happen. Jake, like Joe Rogan said, is the best grappler (GSP) has ever encountered. So if it gets into grappling and scrambling, I feel really good about that.”
“I’d say tapout, I really do. I think that the best way for Jake to do it. I’ve never seen anything from GSP’s toughness in regards to taking a beating. He’s a great hammer. Let’s see him when he’s the nail. Jake has to put GSP in some deep water like that and really see what he’s made out of. I want to see what happens when (GSP)’s getting punished. If he happens to take Jake to the mat, you cannot hold Jake down. I’ll be surprised if GSP can hold Jake down. I think he’ll get up, he’ll get up on top of him. This is a great match-up.”
Firas Zahabi – “I would think it would be a mistake to show too much respect for Jake Shields’ grappling. He’s a great grappler, he’s a phenomenal grappler. But I don’t think he’s been with a grappler as good as Georges as well. Georges never had faced such a good grappler and neither has Shields. Georges’ jiu-jitsu is extremely well-developed, extremely well put together. Georges for this camp has rolled with 20 different black belts, literally over 20 different guys with their own specialties on the ground. So, he has plenty of experience on the ground, plenty.”