What If He Wins? Featuring Georges St. Pierre And Jake Shields (Part 2)

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to the second part of today’s special two-part entry into my “What If He Wins?” series. Today’s double-header focuses on the upcoming UFC 129 main event: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields, with GSP’s UFC Welterweight Championship on the line. In a fight where so many are siding with the champion, I can’t help but wonder… what if Jake Shields wins? Here’s my early thoughts on just that.

If Jake Shields wins by anything other than a stoppage or blowout decision, Georges St. Pierre will be granted an immediate title shot.

I have two major, somewhat-conflicting responses when it comes to this topic. And both of those responses take the form of a question. The first is: what do you expect? It’s that response that’s a bit more negative: the UFC knows how big of a cash cow GSP is, and they’ll do everything in their power to get the gold back around his waist if he loses a close fight to Shields. The second, more-positive reaction is: is that such a bad thing? With all GSP has accomplished both in and outside of the ring, wouldn’t he be fully deserving of a title shot if the fight is close, even if some would call it an obvious ploy by the UFC to get their belt back around one of their highest-drawing stars?

Even if Shields stops or dominates GSP, he’ll probably face him in roughly a year, maybe less.

The last time Georges St. Pierre lost the UFC Welterweight Championship, he was fighting for the title again after winning two fights. It should also be noted that one of those fights was for an Interim Welterweight Championship due to Matt Serra getting injured. So even if Jake Shields does something perceived as even more of an impossibility than just simply beating GSP and actually dominates or stops GSP, that still doesn’t mean that he won’t be fight GSP again in the immediate future. Depending on how things shake out, Shields could be right back here next year fighting GSP again.

Shields will likely have to defend his title against most of the people GSP defeated.

When Frank Edgar defeated BJ Penn for the second time, one of my earliest reactions was “it’s a whole new ballgame”. What I mean by that is that all of the people BJ Penn beat could be right back at it and in championship bouts since Frank Edgar is a very different fighter when compared to BJ Penn. And in much the same way, Jake Shields is a very different fighter when compared to Georges St. Pierre. Since so many of the fighters GSP has faced and defeated have only looked bad against GSP, I think Shields will probably end up fighting people like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, etc.

Jake Shields will eventually move up to Middleweight and challenge Anderson Silva.

This is definitely something I can put my foot down on and firmly state that I think it’ll happen. It’s simple, really: not only has Jake Shields competed at Middleweight before, he’s won championships at Middleweight. Jake Shields would gladly fight Anderson Silva, if only to prove himself against such a high-quality fighter. It may not have all the allure of GSP vs. Silva, but at least it’s a fight that wouldn’t be bogged down by months of negotiation and rumor.

And that wraps up part 2 of today’s special two-parter, fans and friends. One last time: what about you? What do you think will happen if Jake Shields beats Georges St. Pierre?