It appears that Canadian fans will get a double dose of the three time Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year Georges St-Pierre (21-2), according to Yahoo! Sports writer Kevin Iole.
Iole is reporting that the UFC welterweight champ will defend his title to #1 contender Jake Shields (26-4-1) at the upcoming UFC 129 event in Toronto. White apparently made the announcement sometime after last nights UFC 125 event.
St-Pierre is coming off of a one sided win over “TUF 12″ opposing coach Josh Koscheck at last months UFC 124 event in Montreal. GSP won a unanimous decision over Koscheck to earn his fifth straight title defense and eight straight win. So far the French Canadian is 16-2 with the UFC.
Shields made his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 to earn the #1 contender spot, it was his fifteenth straight win. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion moved to the UFC after failed contract talks. Shields won the vacant Strikeforce title November of 2009 by defeating Jason “Mayhem” Miller and then went on to defend the belt against UFC vet Dan Henderson last April, Shields won a unanimous decision in both matches.
UFC 129 is set to take place on April 30th at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The venue could hold up to 60,000+ fans for the event, but UFC president Dana White has stated a number that he doesn’t want to cheapen the fan experience by packing the stadium. Co-headlining the event will likely be a light-heavyweight bout between former UFC champs Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida.