Distractions galore in UFC 129 runup

When Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields meet for the UFC welterweight title Saturday night in Toronto, they’ll be watched by 55,000 fans in person and north of 1 million on pay-per-view.

That’s all well and good. But being on the highest-grossing live card in promotion history doesn’t exactly make for an easy training camp.

Both St. Pierre, the Canadian champ, and Jake Shields, his American challenger, have been overwhelmed with media and publicity duty.

“It’s always a distraction,” St. Pierre told reporters on a conference call in the leadup to UFC 129. “… But when you’re a champion, you have to be ready to make the sacrifices.”
Similarly, Shields talked about waking up at 4 a.m. for interviews.

But if any two can handle it, it’s these two.

“GSP” is the seemingly unbeatable UFC titleholder; he hasn’t lost in four years. Meanwhile, Akira Kikuchi was the last to beat Shields — in December 2004.