UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is not yet convinced that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is in his future.
Ask him on May 1 after he's fought Jake Shields.
There are many, of course, who feel the UFC 129 headliner is a formality and think the clash between pound-for-pound greats is inevitable. For one, Las Vegas oddsmakers, who set the line on the potential fight at 6-to-1 odds in favor of St-Pierre, according to UFC president Dana White.
Just as Silva (27-4 MMA, 12-0 UFC) was bombarded with questions about the superfight this past Saturday following his explosive knockout of Vitor Belfort at UFC 126, so was St-Pierre (21-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) when he sat down to talk about his headlining bout against Shields (26-4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), which takes place April 30 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
"I don't even think about this right now," St-Pierre said at a press conference in support of the spring event. "I never thought about it. I always live in the present moment, and my biggest problem is Jake Shields.
"It would be foolish for me to look past Shields. He poses the biggest threat to my title. He's a very well-rounded fighter. The UFC brought him in, and I'm glad they did because he's the No. 1 guy for the welterweight title.
"As the champion, I'm a proud champion, and I want to fight the best guy. I'm going to fight Jake Shields, and I'm happy to do so."
Although White conceded this past Saturday that St-Pierre vs. Silva will happen if the welterweight champ defends his title a sixth consecutive time, he was again forced to pump the brakes on the expectations of fans and media.
"This guy is so stealth," White said of Shields. "But that's how he's been his entire career.
"People have been counting this kid out forever. He just fought Dan Henderson at 185 pounds, and anybody who's ever covered mixed martial arts in this room probably even his training camp didn't think he was going to win that. Not only did he win that fight he dominated Henderson.
"He hasn't lost a fight since 2005. That's tough to do in this sport. So this is a tough fight for St-Pierre. I don't care what Las Vegas says or anybody else says."
St-Pierre sees more depth in the fight than most observers, who say the welterweight title matchup is an easy one to envision: The champ stuffs the takedown and pounds the challenger into oblivion.
The champion said he sees a threat in Shields' striking skills, and obviously his black-belt level jiu-jitsu. Most dangerous, though, is the weapon between the challenger's ears.
"He's very well-rounded, plus, he's a very clever fighter," St-Pierre said. "That's what makes him most dangerous he's a clever guy. We have a lot of guys that are dangerous in the sport, but they are not clever. They go in there and they try to rumble. He's not that kind of guy."
For his part, Shields is a little perturbed that he's been left on the sidelines of his own fight, though he understands why there's so much attention on Silva vs. St-Pierre. The champions have dominated in their respective weight classes so long that it's natural to want to put them together. But there's one easy way to turn people's heads, and that's by winning the welterweight title.
"It's a big mistake to overlook me," he said. "Because I plan on coming out there and spoiling that fight."
For more on UFC 129, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
Check out more UFC News at MMAjunkie.com. This story originally appeared on MMAjunkie.com and is syndicated on Yahoo! Sports as part of a content-partnership deal between the two sites.