• UFC 129

55,000 people won't be able to help GSP - Shields

Jake Shields has brushed aside Georges St-Pierre's massive home advantage at UFC 129, insisting the duo will compete on a level playing field once the Octagon door slams shut.

UFC 129 will be watched by a record crowd at Rogers Centre in Toronto, where 55,000 tickets have been sold, more than doubling the current record for a UFC attendance.

The large majority of those fans will be supporting home favourite and UFC welterweight champion St-Pierre, who has won his last eight fights. None of that matters to Shields, who believes the title is his destiny.

"I couldn't be more excited, this is the fight I've been going after for years," said the Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu fighter, whose winning streak stretches to 15 fights. "I've wanted to be the UFC welterweight champion since I started the sport, now it's actually in front of me so I'm just ready to go out there and fight.

"[The crowd] is a small factor, you can't let that stuff get to you. When it comes down to it, it'll be me and Georges in the cage, nobody can help him, the crowd will be booing me and cheering him but you just deal with it.

"It's great to see this growth, 55,000 people, that's just insane. It's not something I saw myself [doing], but I'm happy to be here. It would be a dream come true [to win the belt], I've worked so hard for this, I've spent 11 years working hard so if I get it, it will mean so much."

Shields' UFC debut saw him limp to victory over Martin Kampmann, a performance that was largely blamed on a poorly calculated weight cut from 185lbs down to 170. No such problem will exist this time though.

"I thought I had a really poor performance against Martin Kampmann but the UFC has treated me great," Shields said. "It wasn't a great performance but Dana [White] wasn't mad at me for it, he wasn't thrilled, but I still got the win and he still gave me the title shot.

"I dropped a lot of weight coming off 185 and I miscalculated. It was my stupidity. I made the mistake once but I won't again. My weight's great right now, I'm about 184 so it should be an easy cut coming in."

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