UFC and GSP cautioning fans, don't look past Shields

The Canadian media was excited to finally see the UFC officially land in Toronto. Dana White and Georges St. Pierre were on hand to push the Apr. 30 card at Rogers Centre. The slate is loaded with Jose Aldo and up to 42,000 may pack the giant stadium. Plus there's going to be cool innovations, like eight massive viewing screens for the fans. And oh yeah, Jake Shields will be there too.

With the talk around swirling about a potential superfight between UFC welterweight champ GSP and middleweight champ Anderson Silva, the welterweight title challenger is an afterthought for many right now. So when the questions about GSP-Silva starting flowing forth at the UFC 129 press conference, the fighter and promoter both said "hold your horses."

"You put me on the spot, now," (St. Pierre) said with a laugh, according to the Canadian Press (VIDEO). "I'm not sure, I don't even know what's going to happen after this fight (with Shields). I'm taking one thing at a time."

White went into sales mode, talking about Shield's win over Dan Henderson and his unbeaten streak dating back to 2005.  

"This guy's so stealth it's unbelievable," White said. "But that's how (Shield's) been his whole career."

St. Pierre got full of himself when he first won the UFC title back in 2006. There's was talk of him being unbeatable. He listened and had to learned a lesson. 

"This thing for me, I take it (Silva talk) like a distraction from my fight. My immediate goal is to win against Jake Shields," said St. Pierre. "I made a mistake in the past, looking past an opponent. And I'm never going to do it again, because last time I did that I got beat by Matt Serra."

Let him get this win, against one of the top grapplers in MMA, out of the way first. 

"For me it would be foolish to look past Jake Shields," he added. "I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe it's going to happen or maybe it's not going to happen -- this super-fight. I will see. . . It's too complicated to say. We'll need to wait until after Jake Shields to talk about it."

Both fighters raved about Silva's win over Belfort. Shields (26-4-1, 1-0 UFC) said Silva's front kick KO was par for the course from the champ. St. Pierre called him a "true mixed martial artist."

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