When George St. Pierre takes to the cage next Saturday night against Jake Shields he'll be doing so with an eye toward becoming the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history. Currently St. Pierre is tied with UFC legend Matt Hughes for the most consecutive title defenses at the weight with 5, but with a win over Shields not only will he retain his title but he can knock his personal rival back a peg in the record books and begin to really separate himself and his legacy from the sports only other real dominant welterweight champion.

Of course, St. Pierre may have already achieved this feat had he not been dropped by Matt Serra in his first title defense at UFC 69 back in 2007. The diminutive powerhouse landed a big overhand right that wobbled St. Pierre who was unable to recover, eventually succumbing to a barrage ground strikes before the referee stepped in to call the fight. Many have called that punch lucky, but St. Pierre is quick to correct them. 

"There is no lucky punch," St. Pierre told MMA Fight Corner presented by FiveKnuckles.com. "There is no such thing. It doesn't exist a lucky punch. It happened because the guy did the right move at the right moment. There is no such thing as a lucky punch in fighting. This is something that I don't like. Lucky punch, it doesn't mean nothing. It doesn't happen, it doesn't exist."

Lucky punch or not, St. Pierre fought hard to regain his title, defeating Josh Koscheck and Hughes and Serra in back-to-back rematches. Since that time, St. Pierre hasn't lost a round while defending the strap in successive victories over Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy and a rematch with Koscheck.

Many have attributed St. Pierre's success to the idea that he plays it safe and fights cautiously utilizing his superior MMA wresting to control his opponents and ride out victories. Indeed, four of his five title defenses have come via decision, a fact not lost on the champion who believes he may have lost his "swagger" in those fights.

"A lot of people have been criticizing me," St. Pierre said. "But for Jake Shields, I got back to my roots. I have done a lot of change to my training, I changed a lot of things and I got back to a different style and I'm very excited to jump back into the Octagon. I think I lost my smile. After my last couple of fights I was not happy and I did not have the swagger in my fights. But I got it back and I think it's going to make a good positive change in my career as well."

Speaking of swagger, if he doesn't turn to boxing, Jake Shields' teammate and current Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, seems intent on calling out St. Pierre at every pass. The former UFC welterweight contender has stated on numerous occasions that he believes St. Pierre doesn't want to fight him and may be scared of the popular brawler. A sentiment St. Pierre denies.

"I'm not scared of Nick Diaz," St. Pierre said. "He wants a title shot that's why he says these things. He's not the first one that's been calling me out. I'm the champion now and everyone wants to have the title. It's a normal thing. I don't get into trash talk, but I'm not afraid of nobody. The UFC always gives me the best challengers and I welcome the challenge.