TORONTO -- This is the UFC 129 live blog for Georges St-Pierre vs. Jake Shields, the main event of tonight's pay-per-view at the Rogers Centre.St-Pierre (21-2), who is making his sixth consecutive welterweight defense, defeated Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck last year. Shields (26-4-1) has won his last 15 fights and won his UFC debut last October in a split decision against Martin Kampmann.
The live blog is below.
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Herb Dean will referee the main event. Shields gets the mandatory boos during his introduction. The fans do their best to drown out Bruce Buffer as he announces GSP, but the sound system is booming, and he's easily heard. It's still an amazing roar from 55,000+.
Round 1: Shields stalks GSP around. St. Pierre lands a kick, but Shields catches it. St. Pierre hops around on one foot and frees himself. They clinch against the cage, but break. St. Pierre keeping a low stance. He scores with a jab, then a back kick to the body. St. Pierre hurt Shields with a jab that sent him sprawling backwards. Shields catches another kick, but can't pull GSP down. A St. Pierre hook lands with :45 left. St. Pierre getting comfortable now, and scores with an overhand right as the round ends. All standup round, and it's GSP's, 10-9.
Round 2: This is strangely settling into a kickboxing match. Not surprisingly, that favors the champion, whose jab continues to find a home. A hard overhand right buckles Shields, who isn't having much luck landing anything. A right behind the ear for GSP midway thru rattles Shields again. Shields tries to clinch, but St. Pierre shrugs him off easily. The overhand right seems to be GSP's weapon of choice tonite. Shields has little for him so far. St. Pierre, 10-9.
Round 3: Shields is starting to look frustrated as GSP's keeps him away with jabs and overhands from the outside. The champ lands a right hand, and Shields ducks low for a shot, which is promptly stuffed. Shields' strategy is a bit perplexing here. He's usually tenacious on the takedown tries. Here he's fairly content staying on the outside. St. Pierre dumps Shields to the ground with :20 left to a big pop. With little time to work, nothing of note is landed but it's another round for GSP, 10-9.
Round 4: St. Pierre takes Shields down early, lands an elbow, then pulls out and back to his feet. Maybe sending a message. Shields is flummoxed. St. Pierre lands a head kick that downs Shields. He looks to follow him but Shields tries to reverse. St. Pierre pulls free and we restart standing. Shields taunts St. Pierre, trying to goad him forward. GSP continues in his businesslike manner. This isn't the most action-packed fight in the world, that's for sure. St. Pierre and Shields both have bloodied noses, but not too marked up after 20 minutes of action. St. Pierre, 10-9.
Round 5: Shields chases the champ around early. St. Pierre lands a superman punch and Shields backs away. Another overhand right from St. Pierre. It's hard to figure out what exactly Shields' game plan was tonight. Sure St. Pierre is difficult to take down, but he rarely tried and didn't exactly come out here to take the belt by force. He is usually doggedly determined. We haven't seen that Shields. St. Pierre's jab and overhand are his go-to shots today, but he's only hurt Shields once, with the head kick. Well, it took 34 minutes, but this crowd has begun to turn on them, with some whistles and boos. It's going to be another win for St. Pierre, but it's not necessarily one for the highlight reel. The crowd tries to rally them to the finish. Another round for GSP, 10-9. He's won 35 rounds in a row, and he's still the champ.
Winner: Georges St. Pierre via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)
So much for that "35 rounds in a row" comment, as two judges scored two rounds for Shields.
After the fight, St. Pierre says his eye got scratched in the second round and he can't see. He says he needs to go to the hospital to get it checked out right after this. He's asked about the potential superfight with Anderson Silva, but won't commit to it, saying he'll have to figure it out, as it would change the course of his career.
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