George Sotiropoulos (-215) vs. Joe Lauzon (+185)
George Sotiropoulos (13-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is looking to get into title contention with his 7th consecutive UFC victory. George has had a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since 2004, under John Will. He won a state boxing title in Australia and now trains at Fisticuffs Gym in Vancouver Washington. Sotiropoulos was a competitor on season 6 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, in the welterweight division. After losing a controversial knockout to Tommy Speer, he was eliminated . I say controversial due to his eye poke preceding the stoppage.
Since getting a contract in the UFC, Sotiropoulos’s best wins are a 3 round destruction of Joe Stevenson, and another dominant performance over Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 110 and 116 respectively. His only career losses are a disqualification against Shinya Aoki and in his 4th career fight he lost to future UFC fighter Kyle Noke.
Joe Lauzon (19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was also a competitor on “The Ultimate Fighter” season 5. “J-Lau” lost via unanimous decision to future WEC title contender, Manny Gamburyan in the semifinals of the show. He is definitely considered a submission specialist having won 15 times via sub. Lauzon currently holds a purple belt and has won the vaunted “submission of the night” bonus 3 times. A bit off topic, but Joe is an avid Call of Duty player. His name is JoeLauzonDotCom if you are interested in testing his skills.
The most notable wins Lauzon has are: his momentous upset over former UFC champion Jens Pulver and Jeremy Stephens. After losing to Lauzon, Pulver went on to lose his next 7 of 8. Kenny Florian and Sam Stout are the only fighters to defeat J-Lau since he started fighting in the UFC.
I love Sotiropoulos in this fight and frankly am quite surprised the odds aren’t more in his favor. The only times Lauzon has fought top-tier competition in recent years; he has been dominated by Kenny Florian, failed to win a round (including a 10-8) vs. Sam Stout, and he won via submission over heavy handed Jeremy Stephens. Lauzon looked incredible in his last win, but Gabe Ruediger was 0-1 in the UFC so I’m not sure how much credit to give. There standup games aren’t even close. Sotiropoulos has some of the best boxing in the lightweight division. Lauzon’s only way to win would be getting a submission, or controlling him on the ground at least 2 rounds. The way Sot had his way in the ground game against black belts Stevenson and Pellegrino, I don’t see it happening. Sotiropoulos should know Lauzon’s path to victory, and pick him apart on the feet. I see him avoiding the ground game altogether and rocking him in the 3rd round, followed with a rear naked choke. George Sotiropoulos via submission, round 3.