TORONTO - Georges St-Pierre says the oddsmakers have got it all wrong in dismissing challenger Jake Shields at UFC 129.

The UFC welterweight champion is cited as a 4-1 or 5-1 favourite to beat Shields at Toronto's Rogers Centre on April 30.

"People who make the odds, they don't even acknowledge the true skill set of Jake Shields and that is something that really pisses me off," St-Pierre told a media conference call Thursday.

"Because I have the pressure of going through Jake Shields like a knife through butter. But they don't understand the danger. People keep asking me 'Oh, what are you going to do next?' I'm like 'It's not what I'm going to do next. What is happening now is the most dangerous trap I ever faced in my career' and people don't even acknowledge that."

The 29-year-old champion from Montreal seemed more out of sorts over the odds than Shields.

"It didn't bother me at all," the California fighter said. "I don't look at myself as an underdog going into this fight. I look at us at two guys going in even and in my mind I'm going to go out there and win."

The two face off in the main event of the historic mixed martial arts show, which has already set a UFC record for attendance (55,000) and gate ($11 million).

It could also rank as one of the UFC's biggest pay-per-view audiences.

A prickly grappler, Shields (26-4-1) remains one of the few remaining challenges for St-Pierre at 170 pounds.

St-Pierre is well aware of his opponent's pedigree, confessing he has picked an underdog Shields in the past to win against the likes of Dan Henderson and Robbie Lawler.

"Jake Shields has a weapon that's even more dangerous than a knockout punch," he said, referring to his ground submission skills. "And he always finds a way to bring the fight where he's the strongest, even though the odds are all against him.

"That's why this fight is the most dangerous fight for me. And I'm going to tell you right now, I strongly believe that if you put Jake against any of the contenders that I have fought before, Jake would win the fight.

"When I say that this fight the bar's been raised higher that it's ever been before, I'm not lying about it."

The 32-year-old from San Francisco has won his last 15 fights dating back to 2005. A middleweight champion in Strikeforce, he made his UFC debut last October when he won a split decision over Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann at UFC 121.

"A lot of people look at me as the new guy because they're just UFC fans," Shields said. "They don't realize that I've actually been in more fights than Georges. Not by a lot but I've done the same things.

"So it's nothing new to me. That's why I think it's going to be such a great fight, such a war."

St-Pierre (21-2) is on an eight-fight win streak and has not lost a round since August 2007.

He says Shields does not get the respect he deserves because he is more of a grappler than a striker.

"They don't expect the submission ability as much as the knockout strike."

The UFC has said St-Pierre will move up in weight to face middleweight champion Anderson Silva if he disposes of Shields. But St-Pierre remains cautious and has said if he fights Silva at 185, he will stay at that weight class.

"Right now I'm a 170-pounder. If I would fight at 185, it would be a complete reorientation of my career."

Shields said while he would not be averse to returning to middleweight (185 pounds) to fight, he would have to think about it because of the work it takes to put weight on and take it off properly.

"The cut was really hard at first," Shields said. Now that I've properly got my weight down here, I feel a lot better at 170."

St-Pierre said he currently weighs about 185 pounds.

Shields said he woke up at 182, a vast improvement over his last fight when he had to drop 20 pounds in 24 hours last time out against Kampmann.

Shields was asked whether the pro-St-Pierre crowd in Toronto could motivate him.

"It could work either way," he said. "I don't really know. I've never had 50,000 people booing me, so I'll find out."

Said St-Pierre: "It's going to be a neutral field. We're both going to be in unknown territory."

Both fighters said the media demands ahead of the Toronto card have been amazing.

"It's definitely insane, but I know Georges is dealing with it too," said Shields, complaining about interviews scheduled for 4 a.m. his time.

"We have to do it," added St-Pierre.