Wednesday, March 23, 2011

"UFC Primetime" returning to Spike TV for Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields at UFC 129

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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The UFC's successful "Primetime" series on Spike TV will return in April for the UFC 129 main event between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields.

UFC President Dana White revealed the plans for a three-part Primetime series for the fight after Saturday's UFC 128 event. It will mark the third such series that St. Pierre has been a part of.

The three, half-hour episode series will follow both fighters in their preparation for their headlining fight at the UFC's already record-setting event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It will serve to showcase each fighter in their training and home lives prior to what will be the UFC's biggest ever live event, with 55,000 tickets already sold for the show at the Rogers Centre.

The series was used three times in 2010, including the Rashad Evans vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson bout at UFC 114 and the Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez bout at UFC 121.

St. Pierre has been featured in the series twice before, prior to his UFC 94 bout with B.J. Penn and again prior to his UFC 111 fight with Dan Hardy. And though fans have seen into his life through six episodes of the show, this version of the series will surely be used to show fans just who Jake Shields is coming into a title fight in only his second UFC bout.

"Everything you didn't know about Georges St-Pierre from the other seven 'Primetimes,' you'll learn in this one," joked White.

Penick's Analysis: This is a good call on the UFC's part. Though GSP has been featured already on the show, it's a good way to boost up the profile of his challenger when he's been on top for as long as he has been. For Shields, this is a great way to get a much larger introduction to the UFC's audience after his UFC debut in October. This event is going to be huge as it is, and this will help boost it's status by keeping it on the minds of fans throughout the month of April.

Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney  Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito 

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