St. Pierre overcomes ailing eye to outpoint Shields
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TORONTO -- Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre lost sight in his left eye less than halfway through the fight and it still didn't matter.
AS IT HAPPENED: �UFC 129 play-by-play
St. Pierre won his eighth consecutive title fight and fourth straight decision in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a victory over Jake Shields on Saturday in the main event of UFC 129. Two judges scored the bout 48-47. One gave all five rounds to the champion for a 50-45 tally.
The winning formula was reminiscent of St. Pierre's strategy against Josh Koscheck in December: Keep circling, throw the jab and mix in the occasional hook or overhand punch. St. Pierre added some kicks this time, but ultimately it was his hands that made the difference.
Shields appeared tentative with his punches, as he often has in the past, while looking for opportunities to grapple. With St. Pierre jabbing him well, especially in the first three rounds, the challenger started diving for takedowns from further away, or simply waiting for the champion to throw a kick that could be caught.
Compustrike counted 71 power strikes for St. Pierre, compared to 25 for Shields.
The challenger was the stalker for most of the fight, but many of his punches lacked conviction. Although he actually landed more total strikes than St. Pierre in each of the last three rounds, Shields landed fewer power strikes each time.
UFC 129 PRELIMS: �Garza, Makdessi lead quartet of finishes
But in the second round, St. Pierre's left eye became blurry. He could not see out of it from the third round on, he said. The champion had a cut on his nose and a welt under his left eye by the end of the fight.
Also on Saturday's main card:
? Featherweight champion Jose Aldo retained his belt with a unanimous decision over Ontario native Mark "The Machine" Hominick. Aldo took down Hominick each of the first four rounds and caused a monstrous welt on his forehead, although the challenger dominated the final round with an extended ground-and-pound sequence.
? Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida sent fellow ex-champion light-heavyweight Randy "The Natural" Couture into retirement by flooring him with a karate crane kick to the face -- a move associated more with movies rather than professional mixed martial arts -- and finishing him off with punches on the mat. Before the fight, Couture indicated it would be his final MMA bout.
? Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko knocked out Jason Brilz in 20 seconds. Matyushenko dropped Brilz with a two-punch combination and finished him off with hammerfists on the ground.
? Ben Henderson won a unanimous decision Mark Bocek by outwrestling and outstriking him, while avoiding Bocek's submission attempts.
Saturday was UFC's debut in Ontario, Canada's most populous province. More than 55,000 people bought tickets to the event, a record for UFC. It's also the largest paying crowd to attend a mixed martial arts event, although some events in Japan had bigger live audiences that included a significant number of comped ticketholders.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/ZrxYTo7SytQ/1
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