Entering UFC 129, Georges St. Pierre has 17 fights in the UFC, 2 previous appearances on the Primetime special, and a stint coaching the Ultimate Fighter opposite Josh Koscheck last year. He's been featured in commercials for ESPN, Gatorade, and Under Armour. I think fans have an idea of who GSP is and what he is about.

That's why this edition of UFC Primetime is being used to build up former EliteXC and Strikeforce champion Jake Shields as a credible contender for the belt.

Unfortunately, viewership is down from previous seasons. MMA Junkie reports:

Wednesday night's debut of "UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Shields," which previews the UFC 129 main event on April 30 between current UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and top contender Jake Shields, drew 610,000 viewers to Spike TV.

For some context, the debut for Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans drew 1.2 million viewers, while GSP's last time on the show with Dan Hardy drew an even million.

Like the Ultimate Fighter, though, there's a big variable at play here: timeslot. Spike TV slotted the show for midnight ET. GSP vs. Penn and GSP vs. Hardy aired at 10 p.m. ET, while the network pushed back Jackson vs. Evans and Lesnar vs. Velasquez to the 11 p.m. ET slot.

Lack of interest in Shields or everyone sick of GSP prime times....thoughts?

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/4/15/21 ... but-rating

There is defenitely not a lack of interest. I just think several small factors together made for a lower viewer count.

There are a lot going on, lots of MMA to follow, a new season of TUF and they changed the timeslot.

I seriously doubt that anyone that really follows MMA is not mega hyped for this fight because we all would like to see GSP tested for real. But as a mainstream fight it has less apeal then the Rampage fight. Jackson is Rampage and was an icon already when he fought in Pride, people wanna see him because hes funny and cool and all that. A lot of people that doesnt really follow all MMA find him appealing. Also, as mentioned, people already watched a primetime with GSP and know the story. I dont think people know that much about Jake Shields yet as they should and are not curious enough. He has been a pretty low profile fighter, even though his record is fantastic, and was not on Time magazine or whatever like GSP etc so with that combination, people having seen the GSP story, the changed timeslot (!) and less famous contender I think they managed to get the ratings down.