FanHouse GeorgesSt.Pierre

When Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Jake Shields step into the cage on Saturday, it will match up one of MMA's best known personalities with one of its most underrated fighters.

For all his verbosity and bluster, Miller is highly skilled and well rounded, and presents the surging Shields with a stern challenge in all facets of the fight game.

So how will the Stikeforee middleweight championship fight go down? Let's take a look.

Barriers are not always smashed with a sledgehammer. Sometimes they're chiseled away a little at a time.

A case in point is MMA's move to mainstream acceptance, which has occurred in bits and pieces. The latest step forward comes courtesy of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who has signed a multi-year endorsement deal with top-selling athletic brand Under Armour.

Upon authoring perhaps the biggest upset of the year in mixed martial arts, Mackens Semerzier nonchanlantly rose from the canvas, whispered a thanks to his fallen opponent Wagnney Fabiano for the opportunity to compete against him, and simply smiled to the camera broadcasting the shocker to the world.

No one would have objected if Semerzier, who according to multiple MMA wagering sites entered the bout as the biggest underdog of the 10-card WEC event, pulled out a bottle of champagne and uncorked it right in the center of the cage. Instead, he illustrated the maturity that led to his win in the first place by controlling his emotions in a supercharged moment.

"I say this with total confidence: I fully expected to win," said the previously little-known Semerzier, who improbably submitted top three featherweight Fabiano with a triangle choke. "Not that I walk around saying I can beat anyone, but that's a thing for me in life: you can always win. You can always find a way. I always thought, 'I'm going to figure out a way to do it. So when I win, it doesn't surprise me."

On his way to what he believes will be a star turn during Oct. 10's WEC interim lightweight title matchup with old friend Donald Cerrone, Ben Henderson is intent on staying humble.

During the first time he starts referring to himself in third-person in an interview, Henderson abruptly stops, apologizes and gives his permission to offer him a dirty look at any repeat. (It never comes.) At a table in a hotel eatery, he politely answers questions as the minutes tick by, well aware that he has missed his airport shuttle, but never letting on. So when he states his grand intentions, it's no surprise he qualifies them with tinges of modesty.

"I'm not the fastest, the biggest or the strongest. I'm a mediocre-sized 155-pounder," he said. "I don't think I have any God-given abilities that put me above and beyond anyone else. I'm just highly motivated. I want to be the best, and I will be the best. That's it."

Reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre -- still on the mend from a groin injury he suffered in his last successful title defense against Thiago Alves -- is targeting a likely January 2010 return to the octagon, his manager Shari Spencer told FanHouse.

The 28-year-old St. Pierre suffered the injury in the third round of the UFC 100 bout and gutted his way through the pain for the remainder of the five-round fight, earning a lopsided unanimous decision. In the aftermath, he feared a torn groin, but received a reprieve when doctors informed him the injury was not as serious as previously thought, and that no surgery was necessary. St. Pierre, who is hoping to gain clearance to return to full-contact sparring within the next two weeks, has recently been enjoying his downtime with a trip to Saint-Tropez, France.

"He's feeling well and just waiting for clearance to resume his full-contact training," Spencer said.