Canadian George St-Pierre takes on American Jake Shields for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 129 this weekend.
Legend Couture comes out of retirement for final bout
The octagon returns to Canada for the sixth time this weekend as Canadian George St-Pierre (GSP) takes on American Jake Shields for the Welterweight Championship.
The co-main event is another title fight which includes the first UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo taking on Canadian Mark Hominick in his own back yard.
If two title fights wasn't enough, Dana White has also managed to put together an intriguing match-up which will see Hall of Famer Randy Couture fight for the last time against Lyoto Machida.
Main Event:
George St-Pierre v Jake Shields
This is truly a battle of champions which pits undisputed UFC Welterweight king GSP against the former Strikeforce & Elite XC Champion Jake Shields.
Arguably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, GSP goes in to this fight as the strong favourite at a price of 1/5, but some may argue that this price is too short considering his opponent is on a 15 fight win streak with notable wins over Martin Kampmann, Dan Henderson, Paul Daley, Mike Pyle, Yushin Okami and Carlos Condit.
Shields is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) but claims more of an "American Jiu-Jitsu" style which combines the skills of BJJ with that of world class wrestling. The biggest question in this fight is can Jake Shields submit GSP? Prior to his fight with Josh Koscheck, there would be an air of inevitability that GSP would take Shields down. However, after working with world renowned boxing trainer Freddy Roach his boxing skills, most notably his jab, have improved significantly. This was evident in his fight with Koscheck where the sheer volume and sharpness in his jab resulted in a broken Orbital Bone for his opponent.
GSP is very vocal about fighting smart and avoiding the strengths of his opponents, and if he looks to stifle Shields he may well choose to keep this fight standing in order to stay out the way of the American's world class Jiu-Jitsu skills whilst utilising his own impressive boxing and Muay Thai.
I find it hard to believe Shields will succeed, where top level wrestlers Matt Hughes, Jon Fitch & Josh Koscheck failed, and outwrestle GSP. Therefore, with the exception of Shields pulling guard, I believe GSP will dictate where this fight goes and as a result will control the pace of the fight and ultimately emerge victorious. However, if you feel the Shields can and will beat GSP you will be compensated generously with a price of 10/3 with Sky Bet. Whilst it is unlikely, if Shields struggles for fitness in the later rounds of this fight as he did in his UFC debut against Kampmann, then GSP has a chance to do something he hasn't managed in his previous three fights and finish his opponent.
Top Tip: GSP to win on points at 11/10 with Sky Bet
Co-Main Event:
Jose Aldo v Mark Hominick
One of the most exciting fighters in the sport, Jose Aldo makes his first defence of the newly introduced Featherweight title against Mark Hominick.
Aldo was the final WEC Featherweight Champion before their recent merger with the UFC and therefore the rightful occupant of the belt. Despite the fast handed Canadian fighting in his native Ontario and the undoubted support that will go with that honour, he goes in to this fight as a big underdog at a price of 10/3 with the online bookmaker. Hominick will bring a good stand up game in to this fight, but unfortunately for him he will be facing arguably the most explosive and one of the fastest fighters in the sport today.
Aldo, also known as Scarface, is on an 11 fight win streak and was unbeaten in his WEC career with wins over Urijah Faber, Mike Brown and Manvel Gamburyan. He possesses brutal leg kicks and has power that exceeds that of a typical featherweight and for this reason I see him winning this fight inside the distance as I think most fighters in the Featherweight and even the Lightweight division will struggle to go the allocated five rounds with Aldo. If you agree you can back Aldo to win at a price of 1/5, or more specifically for him to win by KO/TKO at 4/9 with Sky Bet.
Top Tip: Jose Aldo to win in Round 2 at 10/3 with Sky Bet.
Randy Couture v Lyoto Machida
This is a historic fight which will see one of the all-time greats Randy Couture fight for the final time before retiring at the age of 47. Worthy of main event status itself, this fight see's Couture take on out of form Brazilian Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida.
Despite Couture coming in to this fight in better form winning his last three fights, he is still the underdog at a price of 5/2. Conversely, Machida lost his two previous fights against Rampage Jackson and Shogun Rua but still goes in to this fight as the strong favourite at 2/7.
Machida prefers to fight on the counter with his predominant discipline being karate. However, Couture is likely to make this uncomfortable for the Brazilian with his phenomenal Greco Roman wrestling which will see him try and get in close with Machida and put him against the cage for some top class dirty boxing. If he can do this without taking too much punishment he has a chance to win this fight. This will be difficult for the veteran as Machida is very quick and elusive with his unorthodox Karate stance.
My heart says Couture to retire on a four fight win streak, but my head is telling me Machida is too quick and accurate for "The Natural" and this will be reflected in the result of the fight. No matter what the outcome is I can only wish Randy Couture the best in whatever he chooses to do post retirement, and I hope he follows in the footsteps of "The Ice Man" Chuck Liddell and stays with the UFC and is given a position which recognises what he has done for the organisation and the sport of mixed martial arts.
Top Tip: Machida to win in Rounds 1-3 at 4/9 with Sky Bet
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