(The staredown from today’s UFC 129 press conference in Toronto; props to ZombieProphet)

By Ryan Ventura

When Jake Shields beat Dan Henderson to a unanimous decision at Strikeforce: Nashville last year I was shocked. At the time, Hendo had left the UFC fresh off his devastating KO victory over Michael Bisping and was the favorite against Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut. Before he defended his Middleweight crown against Dangerous Dan, Shields fought for the then-vacant Strikeforce belt against Jason Miller in a grappling clinic put on between the two, and in the end took the unanimous decision.

I personally believed that Jake didn’t have what it took to beat not only an Olympic-class wrestler, but a very dangerous power puncher. Most of us should know that Jake Shields doesn’t exactly have the best stand-up in Mixed Martial Arts. But what he lacks in the striking department, he completely makes up for with his Caesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt and his very strong wrestling. If Shields can grab a hold of any opponent, they’ll be in very big trouble trying to defend his takedown, submissions, and transitions. And if somehow you can get him on the ground, he has the tools to get out of any nasty situation…

Continue reading this article on LowKick.com

(Eat your heart out, fatty.)

If you’ve never heard the story of how Georges St-Pierre began taking karate to help him defend himself against the incessant bullying he endured as a child growing up in St. Isadore, Quebec, Yahoo!Sports has the backstory:

“I had a rough childhood, big problems. I didn’t have many friends growing up. I’m from a small town. I was an intellectual person. People who were friends with me were intellectuals, they were not popular either. They weren’t the hockey player that everyone wanted to be like,” he recalls. “I had an acne problem. I was just not dressing very well. I was not very popular with girls. I just wasn’t a popular guy. [Being bullied every day creates] a very hostile environment. You’re not going to school to learn, you’re going to school to survive. You’re really scared. You hate school because [afterward] you’re getting beat up. You don’t think about what the teacher is telling you, you’re thinking about running away when you hear the ringing of the bell. You need to get your books and get out of class and get to the bus before the kids catch you.”

If you believe the odds makers, we’ll all be paying good money to watch a bunch of epic squash matches during this Saturday’s UFC 129 pay-per-view. There are a lot of long, long odds on the card this weekend and while that may not be great news for the squares watching at home, it’s enough to make any self respecting gambler’s heart go pitter-pat inside his silky, hula girl print Hawaiian shirt. When the numbers are this big you really only have two options, boys and girls: Bet heavy on the favorites in a sober attempt to turn a meager profit or throw down on the dogs in a blind smorgasbord of wanton excess. Any wonder which route we’re gonna take? That’s right, friends, we’re taking the more funner-er route. The odds themselves – from Bookmaker.com – are after the jump.

(Phil Davis looking to steal Rashad Evans’s #1 contender status, says he “might have to use a little bit of craziness” to beat him. Props: philmrwonderful)

- UFC 129: Georges St. Pierre and the 10 Most Dominant Title Runs in MMA History (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Video: Mark Hominick, Sean Pierson Get Early Look at Rogers Centre (Versus MMA Beat)

- B.J. Penn: ‘Teammates Have to Fight Each Other’ (MMA Fighting)

- M-1 Global Insists They Aren’t Holding Up Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson Signing (MMA Convert)

- The Evolve MMA Chronicles: Day 1 (MiddleEasy)

- Dave Batista’s MMA Career Over Before it Begins (5thRound)

- Tom Lawlor vs. Maiquel Falcao likely for UFC: Rio in August (LowKick)

- UFC Live 5 Starts to Take Shape With Ludwig vs. Sadollah, “Magrinho” vs. O’Brien (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Mauricio Shogun Rua Goes Back to His Old Trainer at King’s MMA (MMA-Scraps)

- MMA Welterweight Rankings (Fight Magazine)

(Video courtesy of Videobb/FightVideosMMA)

If you can’t wait until tonight to watch the Countdown to UFC 129, we got you covered.

The Cliff’s Notes on the show are after the jump.

(Menjivar facing Matt Serra in his UFC debut two weight classes higher than his natural 135-pound bracket.)

Ivan Menjivar is not new to the sport, but to many post-TUF fans the Canadian MMA pioneer whose resume includes bouts with Georges St-Pierre, Matt Serra, Caol Uno, Joe Lauzon and Urijah Faber is an unfamiliar face in the Octagon.

After spending the better part of four years away from the sport rehabbing injuries and raising a family, “The Pride of El Salvador” is back and will get the opportunity to compete in front of his legion of fans in his adopted Canadian homeland when he takes on Charlie Valencia Saturday night in Toronto.

We recently spoke with the 21-7 bantamweight and touched on a number of topics including his long-awaited return, his career as a moneyweight fighter and his early days in the sport.

Check out what Ivan had to say after the jump.

(Pic: Affliction)

OK, before we all start dumping Haterade on Randy Couture, let us state for the record that in the following new video interview with Steve Cofield he still sounds pretty certain he’ll be retiring after UFC 129. In fact, Couture seems a little bit pissed off at this point that people keep asking him about it. Chalk it up to run-of-the-mill fight-week orneriness maybe, but we think we detect a slight edge creeping into “The Natural’s” voice when Cofield claims “one of his media buddies” got a text from Dana White that sums up Couture’s plan to call it quits after this weekend’s fight with Lyoto Machida by saying: “Retire? Not if he wins.”

“It doesn’t matter if I win or not,” Couture sort of snaps. “I know them, I know Dana. He’s got plans already and it doesn’t matter to me. He’s going to really have to step up if he thinks I’m going to come back out (of retirement). I don’t think that’s going to happen. There’s a lot of younger guys … Jon Jones is the perfect example. They offered me that fight in the fall. Nobody wants to fight that cat right now. I don’t see that battle in my future.”

Huh. Very interesting. Indeed, Couture is still adamant he’ll be walking away (again) after this weekend. Yet considering what we know about his past, even that tiny little hint that the UFC could coax him back into the Octagon if it unloads a dump truck of money in his driveway makes us hear echoes of Lloyd Christmas deep in the recesses of our cynical little mindbrains: “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance.” The vid itself, which is full of interesting tidbits, is after the jump.

Thanks to the handy flag icons on Wikipedia’s UFC 129 lineup page, I was just reminded that nine of the 12 bouts at this Saturday’s “St-Pierre vs. Shields” event — all seven prelims and two of the five main card fights — will be contested between an American and a Canadian. In that respect, it’s an unofficial sequel to UFC 58: USA vs. Canada, which took place on March 4th, 2006, in Las Vegas, and featured eight such fights. The Americans took that event 5-3, capped off by Rich Franklin’s dominant title defense against David Loiseau in the headliner. (Coincidentally, Georges St. Pierre and Mark Hominick were also on that card, scoring victories over BJ Penn and Yves Edwards.)

Now the Canadians have a chance to even the score on their home turf. So how will it shake out? Well, I might have a couple of opinions on the subject…

They may have blocked us from having a booth at next weekend’s UFC Fan Expo, but that won’t stop us from trucking up to Toronto and hangin’ with our Canadian fans. If you’ll be in town for the UFC 129 festivities, we cordially invite you to the CagePotato.com UFC 129 ‘Banned’ Meetup Extravaganza (!), which goes down at Shoeless Joe’s (276 King St. West), next Thursday, April 28th, from 7-10 p.m.

While there will be many different parties and events happening around Toronto on Thursday night, ours is different in one very important way: OPEN FREAKIN’ BAR. That’s right, CagePotato will be covering beer, well drinks, and appetizers until our money runs out, so be sure to get there early. You’ll also get a “Free CagePotato” t-shirt (as supplies last), as long as you can look us directly in the eyes and promise that you’ll wear it to at least one day of the UFC Fan Expo on Friday or Saturday. (And if you see Sammie Black there with his silly little fake-ass jump rope, please make sure to make fun of him as hard as we did in Boston.)

If you can make it out, all we ask is one thing: Please RSVP by e-mailing cpbanned@breakmedia.com with your real name, commenter name (if you have one), and the number of guests you plan on bringing along. We need to get a head-count for this thing by Tuesday, or else Shoeless Joe himself is going to kick our asses. To summarize…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ZPsBackUp)

If you missed it, UFC Primetime was back last night with another episode featuring UFC 129 main event fighters Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields.

The show focused more closely on the training regimens of both fighters and included snippets of GSP’s new gymnastics workout. I was hoping to there would be more of Shields sparring with Nick Diaz as he was in the gym helping the welterweight challenger prepare when they shot the footage of him training  with Gilbert Melendez featured on the show last night, but the Strikeforce welterweight champ has an aversion  to being on camera. There’s a rumor going around that he blasted “The Most Excited Interviewer in the World” for putting up training footage with the interviews he did with Shields a few weeks back and forced him to take the videos down.

All in all it was another decent episode, but the series would be much better without the tired cliches. It’s getting a little bit nauseating hearing how, “Shields will get the best Georges St-Pierre on April 30,” “GSP has never faced a grappler like Jake,” or “This is the toughest opponent of my career.” It seems that we hear the same thing from both camps before every fight.

It would be more entertaining to hear one of them say, “He sucks. Fighting him is almost a waste of my time. I’ve hardly trained because it’s going to be so easy. I’m going to beat him quickly so I can get a head start at pulling tail at the after party.”

Check out part two after the jump.

(Makdessi showing Anderson how it’s done. PicProps: MMAWeekly)

After carving out an impressive 22-0 kickboxing career and winning a USKBA gold medal in 2006, John Makdessi turned his focus to MMA where he has since rattled off eight straight victories, including a unanimous decision win over Pat Audinwood in his Octagon debut at UFC 124 in December.

A training partner of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Makdessi is a driven fighter who says he isn’t satisfied with a win unless the fans are entertained — a rarity in the sport today that seems filled with fighters who are content with doing “just enough to win.”

The 25-year-old Halifax, Nova Scotia-born Lebanese fighter will put his undefeated record on the line against Kyle Watson next week at UFC 129 in Toronto and says he is planning on making a lot of jaws hit the floor during the bout. We caught up with Makdessi recently to talk about the fight, how he got his start in MMA, his thoughts on the current landscape of the sport and much more.

Check out what “The Bull” had to say after the jump.

If you’ve ever wondered what UFC conference calls are like, they’re pretty much the same as the UFC pre and post-fight press conferences, featuring the same reporters asking the same questions and typically getting the same replies.

Today’s first half of the two scheduled UFC 129 conference calls which featured Mark Hominick, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida and Randy Couture, was somewhat overshadowed by Couture’s retirement announcement that made the rounds this morning. Most of the questions (and a few separate congratulatory messages) were directed at Couture from writers wanting to know if he would keep his word this time, why he made the decision and what he would do next. One even asked Machida how he felt being involved in “The Natural’s” last fight. I was surprised that some of the journos on the call didn’t ask Aldo and Hominick what they thought about Randy calling it a career.

I kind of felt bad for Hominick and Aldo, who, although aren’t quitting fighting ARE fighting as the co-headliners in a championship bout on the largest scale MMA card in North American history. Priorities people. Randy will be available to answer questions about his retirement plans after the fight.

A few tidbits and the audio from the call are after the jump.

(UFC 129 will be bittersweet for Couture fans.)

All good things must come to an end, and according to Randy Couture, so to must his career.

The 48-year-old UFC Hall-of-Famer who time and time again has defied the odds and laughed in the face of Father Time to win championships and fights he was meant to lose, says that win, lose or draw, his UFC 129 bout against Lyoto Machida will be his last.

“I believe this is my last fight,” Couture told ESPN.com’s Josh Gross on Monday. “I know the UFC is probably going to have other ideas, especially with acquiring Strikeforce and all that. They’re probably going to try to draw me into another fight but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I want to stick to my guns and this is the last one.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/officialGSP)

Just when you think bench pressing 120 percent of your bodyweight and doing suicide sets of heavy squats without puking was a major gym accomplishment, GSP has to come along and make you rethink how in shape you really are.

The video above further illustrates the fact that working out is a past time for most of us and for St-Pierre it’s a career he takes more seriously than most fighters competing today.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMACanada)

Jake Shields was in Toronto recently for a photo shoot at Xtreme Couture for Jakt Apparel and he spoke briefly to MMACanada about his upcoming UFC 129 bout in the city with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre while he was there.

For those of you whose bosses don’t like you wasting your work day watching videos on YouTube, the transcription is after the jump.

(Yep. The flag thing again. Props: UFC)

By Anton Gurevich

Two weeks from now, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will look to defend his title for the sixth time, squaring off against Jake Shields at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fight will headline the stacked UFC 129, which will also feature names such as Randy Couture, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo and Ben Henderson on the main card.

Many fans see St. Pierre’s fight against Jake Shields as only a hurdle before “the real thing” — an encounter with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, which has been labeled a “Superfight”, and potentially the biggest bout in Mixed Martial Arts history. Yes, there’s no doubt about how huge a fight between St. Pierre and Silva would be, but it definitely wouldn’t be the first “Superfight” in the French-Canadian’s career…

Continue reading on Lowkick.com

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Dave2662)

If you missed the premiere episode of UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Shields last night, don’t be scared, homies, we got you.

The show was as good as it predecessors, giving us a glimpse inside the camps of the main event fighters from UFC 129 April 30.

Not surprisingly, the the producers played up the respectful sportsmanship of St-Pierre who gave props to Shields’ ground game and politely pointed out that he chooses to test himself against opponents by beating them at their own games.

“Ee ‘as one area that ee is vary, vary good at and it’s ‘is grapping. All da guy dat he has fought in da past were afraid to go on the floor wit ‘im and dat is something dat I am not afraid to do. I always wanted to test myself wit the best fighter at ‘der best game. I like Jake Shield. He’s just at da wrong place at da wrong time. I train harder den I ever train,” GSP asserted throwing in a tired cliche for good measure. “I’m de best Georges St-Pierre dat I ever been. The fight dat I been waiting for for four years is gonna happen in front of fifty thousand people. It’s gonna be incredible.”

Check out part two of the episode after the jump.

(A fond look back at Couture vs. Sylvia @ UFC 68, via MMATrailers4)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- The Cast of UFC “129: St-Pierre vs. Shields” Promo Video (5thRound)

- The Top 5 Most Surprising Falls From Grace in MMA (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Paul Daley Thought His Bout Was Stopped a Little Early (MMA-Scraps)

- Dr. Phil Deals With a Kid Who ‘Trains UFC’ by Getting Punched in the Face (MiddleEasy)

- Keith Jardine Explains Why He Thinks He Beat Gegard Mousasi (MMA Fighting)

- Exclusive Interview With American Kickboxing Academy Owner/Head Trainer Javier Mendez (LowKick)

- Anatomy of a Press Credential (MMA Convert)

- Does Gilbert Melendez’s Latest Win Make Him the #1 Lightweight in the World? (Fight Magazine)

- Nick Thompson Retiring From MMA to Focus on Family, Legal Career (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Former President of the American Medical Association Says Maine Should Be ‘Ashamed’ for Sanctioning MMA (Versus MMA Beat)

(Lucky for Foster, the OAC is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.)

With as much rhetoric opponents of mixed martial arts spew about how unsafe and barbaric the sport is, you would think that the number of fighters dying from MMA-related injuries would vastly outweigh the number of fighters who have been saved from potentially tragic circumstances by the sport.

Well, you can chalk another one up for the good guys.

According to MMAJunkie, an Ontario Athletic Commission-mandated MRI has revealed a dangerous brain abnormality in UFC welterweight Brian Foster that has forced him out of his upcoming UFC 129 bout with Sean Pierson, but more importantly may have saved his life.

(Props: UFCinterviews)

The extended video preview for UFC 129 has hit the Internet tubes, and as usual with these things, we get confident words from all the headliners, intercut with Joe Rogan raving about what beasts they are. Here’s a cheat-sheet…

— Georges St. Pierre says it’s an honor and a privilege to be part of all-time biggest gate in UFC history, and promises to give the fans a good show. Welterweight title contender Jake Shields says he has no problem fighting in hostile territory — which might be the first time that any part of Canada has been described as “hostile territory.” Says Shields: “Everyone has holes. He’s human. Once I get on top of him, I’m going to pass and put him away.” GSP respects Jake’s six year, 15-fight win streak, but says that fighting for a UFC world title is a different game. Particularly when you’re fighting Georges St. Pierre.

(‘Diaz vs. Daley’ video hype, via ESPN)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Gegard Mousasi Speaks About Upcoming Fight with Keith Jardine (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- 40 of the Greatest Dana White F-Bombs in the History of the UFC (MiddleEasy)

- From Heavyweight to Bantamweight: Seven Future UFC Champions (LowKick)

- Paul Daley: “I’m Not a Kiss-Ass, I’m Not Really a Company Guy” (5thRound)

- Mayhem Miller Moves Past Nick Diaz Feud, Vows to ‘Beat the Brakes Off’ UFC Middleweights (MMA Fighting)

- The Tragedy of the Murder of Sergio Salcido (MMA Convert)

- Fabricio Werdum Eyeing UFC Title-Shot After Strikeforce Grand Prix (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Georges St. Pierre Pretty Damn Confident He’s Going to Beat Jake Shields (MMA-Scraps)

- ‘TUF’ Talk: How Important is Lesnar’s Stint on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’? (Versus MMA Beat)

- MMA Rankings: Alvarez & Wilcox Stay Put At Lightweight (Fight Magazine)

(“Why yes, I *am* getting too old for this shit. Thanks for asking!”)

During his 14-year MMA career, Randy Couture has ditched the UFC no less than three times — once in 1998 to pursue opportunities in Japan, the second time due to a short-lived retirement in 2006 following his second knockout loss to Chuck Liddell, and finally in 2007 due to a money disputes and a perceived lack of respect. Each time, the lure of competition has brought him back to his home in the Octagon. But there’s only so much a 47-year-old can take, and after a series of vague hints in recent months, it seems like Randy is preparing us for his final departure, seriously, for real this time.

During an appearance on the ESPN UFC podcast, Couture stated that his upcoming UFC 129 fight against Lyoto Machida will very likely be his last, win or lose. As he put it:

(The ‘Free CagePotato’ t-shirt — coming soon.)

Got some bad news, folks. Our grand plans to bring love, positivity, and a punch-machine to the Toronto UFC Fan Expo (April 29-30, Direct Energy Centre) have been officially shot down by the UFC top brass.

We should have seen this coming. After UFC president Dana White personally promised to ruin us following our leak of Arianny Celeste‘s Playboy photos, CagePotato.com has been blocked from all UFC media events, most notably the MMA legalization press conference at Madison Square Garden in January. (We were initially approved for attendance by MSG organizers, but then told we had been vetoed “due to a recent leaked magazine cover.”) A shame, considering we’ve been one of the foremost online supporters of the MMA in NY regulation efforts.

Still, we held out hope that this wouldn’t affect our appearance at the upcoming UFC Fan Expo in Toronto, considering that we had (without exaggeration) one of the most popular booths at the last UFC expo in Boston, and we were paying a couple grand for the privilege of being there. It turns out the UFC doesn’t even want our money anymore. That’s how you know things have spun out of control.

(The sad part is, they both think they’re the cute one.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- UFC 129 Moved Up One Hour to 9 p.m. ET; Change to All PPV Start Times Being Considered (MMA Fighting)

- Exclusive Interview With UFC Fight Night 24′s Phil ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Davis (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Chad Ochocinco Continues to Call Out Anderson Silva (Versus MMA Beat)

- Strikeforce ‘Feijao vs. Henderson’ Ratings Down 44% From ‘Fedor vs. Silva’, Bellator Delivers Target Demos In MTV2 Debut (MMA Convert)

- A Memo to Strikeforce: Fighters Need To Fight (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC Inks Four-Year Broadcast Deal with Rogers Sportsnet in Canada (5thRound)

- Brendan Schaub: I’m Two Fights Away From a Title Shot (LowKick)

- Don Frye and Shark Fights Have Parted Ways (MiddleEasy)

- Watch the Wrestling Chops of this 8-Year-Old and Hope the Parents are Enrolling Him in MMA in the Near Future (MMA-Scraps)

- FIGHT! Ranking: Hendo Is #2, M-1 Global Champs Hold Ground, Bellator Welterweights Pick Each Other Off (FightMagazine)

(Image courtesy of MMAViewers.com)

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

Never before in the history of MMA has there been a more heavily anticipated fight than the one we may see in the not-too-distant future between UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva and welterweight champ Georges “Rush” St. Pierre. This is the Ali vs. Frazier of our sport.

UFC President Dana White has said that should St. Pierre beat welterweight contender Jake Shields at UFC 129, he would put the two fighters in the Octagon to let them answer the question talking heads have debated for so long: Who is the pound-for-pound best mixed martial artist in the world?

Nevertheless, one has to wonder how likely it is that the super fight actually comes to fruition. Some would argue that there is too much money to be made for this not to happen. Yeah, go tell that to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Others would have you believe that if the fans want something, Uncle Dana gives it to them — like another fight on the free prelims after a thousand or so RT’s. We here at CagePotato don’t enjoy raining on your parade, but we do enjoy poking holes in your sails if it will keep you from inevitable heartbreak. With all of this in mind, know that for every reason this fight could and should happen, there are three more for why it cannot. Below is a quick rundown on the obstacles and potential problems facing the fight of the decade.

(FYI: If you shine this signal into the sky, Bruce Buffer shows up at your door with a carload of chicks and some party favors.)

It looks like the UFC may be saving Toronto for big money superfights in the future based on the record sellout of April’s upcoming UFC 129 event — the promotion’s first in the Canadian province of Ontario.

With a pre-estimated 55,000+ attendance and more than $11-million live gate that blows away the previous record of $8-million set by a 2008 regular season Buffalo Bills game, it’s no surprise that Dana White and co. would want to bring their marquee fights back to the city’s Rogers Centre in the future.

White told Yahoo’s Dave Meltzer that “Hogtown” has hopped to the front of the line of go-to stadium venue locations ahead of Dallas, Texas where Zuffa will likely host superfights like the proposed Georges St-Pierre-Anderson Silva bout that the promotion is hoping to make before the end of 2011.

(Damn, Arianny. Him too?)

After out-pointing Michael Johnson last December to win the TUF 12 lightweight trophy, Jonathan Brookins is gearing up for his first post-TUF opponent in the UFC. MMA Junkie reports that the super-chill bro-dog with the funky hair will take on Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 13 Finale (June 4th, Las Vegas). Stephens is 6-5 in the Octagon (19-6 overall), and most recently knocked Marcus Davis out of a job at UFC 125. Despite Stephens’s spotty record, he’ll be a tough challenge for Brookins, whose biggest weakness seems to be his standup defense; against an explosive power-puncher like Stephens, that could be a problem.

In other UFC booking news…

Sure, I name all my Ferraris. This one? I call this one “Tuesday”.

The latest news surrounding ticket sales for the UFC’s debut in Toronto is staggering, particularly to those Americans under the impression that Canada’s economy still operates on the bartering system. After all 42,000 tickets for the April 30^th card, headlined by the Welterweight championship bout between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields, sold out on day one, the layout in the Rogers Center was reconfigured to accommodate additional seating. The results of that prompt adjustment are in, and the figures now being tossed around are better than Dana himself could have expected.

(Even the cornermen are considering scalping their passes for this one.)

CP 24 is reporting that just over three hour after tickets went on sale Thursday for UFC 129 – Zuffa’s landmark first show in Ontario, fans snapped up each of the 42,000 tickets, prompting the promotion to open up more seats for the Rogers Centre show to ensure that there are tickets available to the plethora of fans waiting for Friday’s UFC newsletter pre-sale and Saturday’s general sale. Although the UFC’s director of Canadian Operations, Tom Wright selling 50,000 seats for the April 30 event, which will feature a pair of championship bouts, may be “pushing it,” judging by the response, the event could very well exceed the WWE’s record attendance mark for the venue of just south of 68,000.

(Take a good look at this photo lineup, MMA fans. Now, do you recognize the man who killed your dreams? PicProps: Flickr)

It goes without saying that there is a lot riding on Georges St. Pierre’s upcoming welterweight title defense against Jake Shields at UFC 129. More specifically, there is a lot riding on Shields not winning it. If the recently deposed Strikeforce middleweight champ were to actually pull off the upset – he was +400 as of this morning — it might be a huge financial windfall for the good people of NorCal (new tattoos for everybody!) but it would piss off absolutely everyone else in the industry.

Dana White, the Fertittas, Joe Silva, Ed Soares’ creditors, Steven Seagal, Canada and (last but certainly not least) the fans — we all have a significant interest in making sure things play out according to the odds for the next couple of months. So it begs the question: If Shields wins the UFC 170-pound title on April 30, does it make him the most hated man in all of mixed martial arts? We’re going to go out on a limb and say yes.