• UFC 129

St-Pierre reveals Silva showdown rests on Shields fight

Georges St-Pierre wants to out-grapple Jake Shields © Getty Images

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Georges St-Pierre has casually confessed in a recent interview that a potential superfight with Anderson Silva depends on the outcome of his clash with Jake Shields at UFC 129.

St-Pierre heads into the sixth consecutive defence of his UFC welterweight title against an opponent who is being widely tipped to conquer the Canadian. Shields is undefeated in 15 fights, and Chuck Liddell has become the latest in a line of top names to back the former Strikeforce star to win this weekend.

However, it seems a St-Pierre victory could be key to the champion's chances of taking on Silva at 185lbs, with Nate Marquardt recently revealing GSP is "definitely considering" fighting The Spider. St-Pierre has now added to that slowly growing belief that their battle will now happen if he beats Shields and Silva overcomes Yushin Okami.

"I think it's possible to happen," St-Pierre told Tatame. "It just depends on the outcome of my fight, the outcome of his fight.

"Everyone wants to arrange the fight, there are a lot of details… But I think it could be possible."

Shields is being dubbed the most dangerous grappling exponent in the 170lb division, but GSP feels his own capabilities in that area are being overlooked.

"I'm a mixed martial artist. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is my favourite sport, so I want to become better at it, and especially for this fight," he said. "I'm fighting an expert in grappling, so I want to be able to use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to come for a submission.

"Jake Shields calls his grappling American Jiu-Jitsu, because he doesn't train with the gi. Me, I want to know American Jiu-Jitsu, but I'm using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I'm training with the best on the sport right now… [I train in the gi]. I believe that it makes your game more technical, and I believe it's very important."

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