Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos Planned for UFC 110 in Australia
A lightweight matchup between veteran Joe Stevenson and Australian George Sotiropoulos is in the works for UFC 110 on February 21 in Sydney, Australia, according to MMA Mania.
Stevenson (31-10), the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2, dropped 3 of 4 from January 2008 to February 2009, including losses to lightweight champ BJ Penn, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez, but has won two-straight since joining Greg Jackson’s camp earlier this year, earning back-to-back wins over Nate Diaz and Spencer Fisher.
Sotiropoulos (11-2), a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 6, remained unbeaten in the UFC with a second-round submission of Jason Dent at UFC 106 earlier this month, improving to 4-0 inside the Octagon with his second-straight win at 155-pounds after dropping down from welterweight earlier this year.
UFC 110 is expected to be headlined by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez and is also likely to feature Dong Hyun Kim vs. Chris Lytle, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Ben Rothwell, and Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski.
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Pictured: Joe Stevenson
Tags: George Sotiropoulos, Joe Stevenson
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Geez UFC atleast give george a fight he can win in front of his own country. Ouch.
Dito
People called for a step up in competition for him, the UFC delivered. Don’t forget how badly Joe Daddy was panned on this site during his three fight losing streak…
I wish people would make up their minds.
The UFC must have BIG plans for George.
I sort of feel bad for Stevenson ’cause while I pegged him as being a “gatekeeper” in a previous thread, you’d think with his last two wins over quality opponents they’d put him back into the 155 mix. And while George is on 4 fight UFC win streak (and officially undefeated in the UFC), I certainly don’t consider him to be a top 10 even in the UFC. Joe Daddy should be fighting guys like Tyson or Guida, while Georgy should be fighting guys like Tibau or Guillard before sending him to Wrestling Camp 101.
You know if there is one thing missing from Joe’s UFC career(besides the belt)is a good standing KO victory. Right now all he has to his credit is that jab that rocked Guillard.
Its no secret that George is better of on the ground with his opponents than standing. And the same can be said for Stevenson. Bu the guy has a good chin and throws a solid 1,2. Dent was landing clean strikes down the pipe on George and if he actually had a bit more power in his hands and some TD defenc ehe could have set something up. Thats where I think Joe can find his success. Hes a bid strong kid for 155. with solid TD defence. So I dont think this fight will take place on the matt unless Joe wants it to.
This is Joes’ chance IMO to get himself a nice KO victory. These guys are pretty evenly matched on the ground but standing id give the edge to Stevenson with his good chin and solid jabs and crosses. Which is even what a basic wrestler in Tommy spear used to KO George.
Tommy Speer poked George in the eye dude! Did you watch that fight?
I’m excited for this fight. I’ve been a fan of George Sotiropoulos since TUF. This is going to be a test to see where he really stands. I agree that he’s not even close to top 10 but a win over Daddy will bring him closer. I see a lot of potential in this guy. I don’t know if he’ll win this fight but I’m excited that the UFC is giving him tougher opponents. And I can’t wait to see this fight go to the ground
Don’t sleep on Sotiropoulos. He’s nice.
Sotiropoulos is awesome. I hope we can see these guys on the ground!
He’s [George] had his warm-up fights I say feed him to the wolves. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sotiropoulos submit “Daddy”. Although Stevenson looked awesome against Spencer.
haha he isnt kenny florian
this is an obvious case of sink-or-swim. Either Joe Silva really sees sumthin in George or he wants to get rid of him
Wow big test for george, i dont think this will be a easy win for joe,
george is a pretty well rounded and is a beast on the ground.
Interesting to see what will happen.
Still see joe pulling a W though
I would have rather seen george against The King really.
Could be a good fight. George might bring something unexpected. If Joe finishes him it will just put the stamp on his ticket back to the top of the LW division. Working with Greg Jackson changes, um…..EVERYTHING, haha!
Wow alot of you are writing George off, I dont think thats a very good idea. I was actually telling my friends during Georges fight on the 106 undercard that after he mauls dent, he is going to get a fight with a lower top ten lightweight to see where he is at.
As far as the fight go, no disrespect but I am curious, where do you all see Joe having such a sig. advantage? He has better striking in my advantage and is no slouch on the ground. Joe has looked better since switching camps, but I work at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas and Joe is always on the tables…..hahaha joking aside, dont sleep on this George feller!
Joes wrestling will be way ahead of GSs and prolly the key for him to win this fight. They both have good Jitz but GS may have him in that dept
Yeah Joe has my vote on the ground if he can handle the likes of Diaz the way he did
*He being G S in para 2
Maybe it will be a Bisping sort of situation where he fights a real contender, gets his ass kicked and comes back all the better for it. George is fighting his Hendo at home for the first time tho.. you never know fights like this motivate fighters to take things to the next level.. George could surprise everyone because I don’t think we have seen the best George Sotiropoulos we will see in the octagon
I think this could be a great upset. He even kind of looks like an Australian Rocky. The Aussie crowd will go nuts during this one…George, George, George!
Id like to see George against someone along the likes of a Cole Miller. Both long, laen 155-ers with good striking and good BJJ.
Sotiropoulos should fight fisher instead
This strikes me as a sort of “sink or swim” test for Sotiropoulos.
I don’t like his chances of winning, but if he can hang tough and take Joe Daddy to a decision, or make the fight close, he’ll do himself a world of good with the UFC front office.
And of course he’ll have an entire nation behind him in Bisping-like fashion…
OH MY GOD WHO HONESTLY CARES ABOUT STEPHEN BONER!!! BORING ASS FIGHTS THAT NEVER GET FINISHED JUST A SWEATY HUGGING MESS…. BORE OFF!
Call me crazy…but I’ll always root for Stephan Bonnar. I would keep the catch-weight theme alive with Kimbo and let him fight Bonnar at 215 after poor Kimbo gets his beard knocked off this month.
Make somethin’ from nuttin’.
You’re not crazy.
While Bonnar has had a whole slew of personal and physical issues over the last few years, he still remains IMO one of the fighters with a lot of “untapped potential” in the UFC.
He also has the good will of Dana White, so his detractors had just best get used to the idea of his name being floated around on various cards for the time being.
Also, eventually Bonnar will catch a break, as the wheel of fate is always turning. One or two impressive wins will put him right back in the spotlight under even idea conditions.
However when you consider the rash of injuries and illness hitting the UFC ranks, Bonnar could help himself immensely by shutting down Sozynski at 110 with authority, and then asking for another tough opponent ASAP…
Thanks, Krypto…Dana has said there’s always a place for Bonnar, and I love the loyalty. I really think the Kimbo thing is a good idea, esspecially if Bonnar loses.