8. Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields (UFC 129)
Not only the greatest welterweight ever but also one of the best pound-for-pound fighters to ever grace the sport, GSP is an interesting case. His talent level is usually in a different stratosphere than the opponents he faces, yet he looks to be playing it safe out of fear of losing. Despite grinding out decision after decision he still managed to be one of the most popular fighters in the world. Jake Shields, on the other hand, while employing a similar wear-you-down fighting strategy, is probably only popular within his immediate family. When the two squared off for St. Pierre's gold at UFC 129 in April of 2011, fans collectively sighed at the thought of the matchup due to the nature of each man's styles. We were optimisitc that Shield's abysmal striking would allow GSP to pick him apart and finally get the stoppage we had been waiting several fights for. A brilliant promo video (still one of the best they've done) leading up to the fight served to increase anticipation and excitement levels started to rise. Then the bell rang and all was forgotten as both men did what both men do. Jake Shields was being lauded by Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg as the first man to win a round on GSP in years, and whehter you agree or disagree with that assessment, the fact is he got totally outclassed, as expected, just not in the manner we'd hoped. For those of us fans hoping to see GSP deliver a brutal TKO to the much less skilled fighter, we were gifted to yet another unanimous decision on GSP's record.