UFC boss Dana White feared the fans were going to turn on Georges St-Pierre following his UFC 129 win over Jake Shields.
After such a dominant run as UFC welterweight champion, including wins over the likes of BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra, Georges St-Pierre was matched up with controversial welterweight, Jake Shields at UFC 129 on April 30, 2011.
Having won his prior three fights via decision, St-Pierre was hopeful of putting on a show in front of the Toronto fans, with this being the UFC’s first event in ‘The 6ix’.
Dana White feared St-Pierre backlash after UFC 129 performance
Despite being widely regarded as one of the pound-for-pound best at the time, ‘Rush’ St-Pierre began receiving a little bit of criticism from the fanbase because of his lack of finishing fights.
Coming into the fight, Shields’ only chance of winning was down to his wrestling ability and whether he could get St-Pierre to the ground and control him there.
In round one, though, Shields was denied on all of his takedown attempts as GSP began to showcase his elite striking arsenal, countering Shields with every opportunity.
Again, in the second round, the Canadian dominated most of the striking exchanges, catching Shields with a few huge overhand rights.
The following few rounds went extremely similarly, however, in the fourth round, GSP was caught with a punch that caused damage on his eye, which subsequently led to him being sent to hospital after the fight.
Despite going on to win via unanimous decision Shields out landed the champion over the five rounds and a portion of the live crowd in the Rogers Centre booed St-Pierre’s performance.
UFC boss Dana White admitted after the fight his fear that the crowd may continue to to turn on St-Pierre if he didn’t score finishes.
“Georges St-Pierre knew what he was up against tonight and got ready for it and trained hard. Do I wish that there was fireworks and these two were standing in the middle of the cage blasting each other, yeah, it doesn’t always play out that way,” White said in the post-fight press conference.
“I know Georges is gonna be the one that catches all this stuff that he didn’t finish another fight,” he continued.
Current UFC champion has been compared to St-Pierre by opponent
On May 10, the UFC returns to Canada for another PPV event, headlined by Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena.
Ahead of their clash, Della Maddalena has compared Muhammad’s ‘boring’ style to that of St-Pierre, claiming that it wins fights but fans don’t enjoy to watch it.
St-Pierre will be in attendance at UFC 315 and has labeled Muhammad ‘the complete package’ despite ongoing criticism.