Georges St.Pierre vs. Jake Shields

UFC welterweight champion Georges St.Pierre(21-2) will face his next title challenger in former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields(26-4-1) possibly in Toronto at UFC 131.

GSP has disposed of every title contender with ease ever since he regained his title from Matt Serra at UFC 83. He’s arguably cleared out the division outside of Shields and Carlos Condit, which speaks volumes considering the division contains the likes of Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and Thiago Alves.

Jake Shields has not lost in over 5 years. That was pretty much unheard of unless you were talking about Fedor Emelianenko. During this 15-fight win streak, he’s defeated the likes of Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, Jason Miller, Yushin Okami, Dan Henderson, Carlos Condit, Mike Pyle, and most recently Martin Kampmann. Shields still receives grief though amongst fans for his conservative style, and he did little to prove them wrong in his debut at UFC 123.

Jake Shields may be the last true test for GSP in the welterweight division. All signs are pointing to GSP’s move to 185, yet Shields should not be overlooked evidenced by his win over Henderson. Shields has done all that’s been asked of him. He dominated the welterweight scene outside of the UFC and moved up to middleweight to seek new challengers, something GSP has been hesitant to do. GSP’s striking is the one obvious advantage between the two. Some may point to GSP’s wrestling being leaps and bounds better than Shields, but I think people are overlooking Shields’ skills. This is a guy who has made a habit of proving people wrong. If this fight goes to the floor, Shields’ grappling may put GSP in an unfamiliar position of being out-skilled.