UFC 129: Georges St-Pierre a Cornerstone for the UFC Primetime Series

During the buildup to UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn back in January of 2009 the UFC and Spike television teamed up to put on a series that documented the lives of the welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and the challenger B.J. Penn prior to their January meeting.

The title given to the series was UFC Primetime.

Although the series hasn't been a cornerstone in hyping each and every title fight or grudge match since UFC 94, the UFC has comeback to the idea from time to time.

Since UFC 94, the UFC Primetime series has been used a total of five times including the show's latest edition for UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields.

The latest edition of the series was actually a product of a question asked by Rogers Sportsnet's "Showdown" Joe Ferraro during a UFC press conference.

Ferraro basically asked UFC president Dana White if he had toyed with the idea of the show and White went on to say that it had not been discussed, but that it was a good idea and if it came to fruition it would be because of Ferraro.

With the fifth installment underway, one detail that becomes blatantly obvious is the fact that the main character is often Georges St-Pierre.

Out of the five installments three have included Georges St-Pierre and the other two were for a much anticipated grudge match between Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans and a title fight between UFC heavyweights Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.

One has to wonder why St-Pierre is such a cornerstone in the series, but there must be some reasonable explanations.

St-Pierre has been defending his title since UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2 and he is one of the biggest names in the sport particularly in his native Canada which is often referred to as "The Mecca of Mixed Martial Arts" by Dana White.

St-Pierre is also a very respectable athlete who helps to bring a lot of credibility to the sport and pushing him to the forefront of the UFC can only mean good things in terms of growing the sport.

All great reasons as to why St-Pierre is featured in the UFC Primetime series on such a regular basis.

Another interesting angle that always seems to come out in UFC Primetime shows with St-Pierre is that viewers are privy to his training methods and it seems as though every time he appears on the show a new training method is added to the fold.

In UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Hardy fans witnessed St-Pierre integrate Olympic lifting into his training regimen to develop his explosiveness as an athlete. A product of that lifting regimen was a spectacle that involved St-Pierre jumping over a series of waist-high hurdles starting from a stand still.

Not to be outdone, St-Pierre showed off one of the more interesting crossover trainings to date for UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Shields as viewers got to see the champion trade in his four ounce gloves for a leotard.

St-Pierre can be seen doing some gymnastics workouts. As far away from combat sports as possible in terms of competition, the flexibility, strength, balance and mental focus required in gymnastics definitely translates over to mixed martial arts and probably a host of other sports as well.

No matter what it is, there is something about St-Pierre that lends well to the UFC Primetime series and both UFC and Spike executives seem to agree.

Of course other fights not involving St-Pierre will be featured in the series, but something tells me St-Pierre will continue to be a regular for as long as the welterweight belt sits around his waist.

Imagine UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Silva, what better way to hype one of the biggest showdowns in mixed martial arts history? Anderson Silva training with Steven Seagal or maybe Chuck Norris and Georges St-Pierre hitting the ice with the Montreal Canadiens, nothing makes better television than that.

Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: