UFC 110 Preview: George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson

George Sotiropoulos (11-2, 4-0 UFC) vs. Joe Stevenson (36-10, 8-4 UFC)

The Story So Far

This fight is interesting for a number of reasons.

Can Stevenson continue his Greg Jackson fueled resurgence. Or will Sotiropoulos ride a wave of Aussie national pride in the UFC's Australian debut?

Sotiropoulos initially made some waves in the TUF season six and defeated Billy Miles on the Finale show. Unfortunately, George suffered an injury and was unable to compete for over a year. The Aussie returned strong though as he dropped to lightweight and defeated George Roop and Jason Dent. 

Joe Stevenson has been with the UFC for a number of years and has challenged for the title before. While Stevenson had a stretch where he went 1-3, those three losses came against B.J. Penn, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez--all top five lightweights in the UFC.  Recently. things have been been going well Stevenson has put together a two fight win streak beating Nate Diaz and Spencer Fisher.

SBN coverage of UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez

Conventional Wisdom

Both fighters share a similar skills set and both fighters are BJJ black belts. Yet, Joe Stevenson is the prohibitive favorite and most observers believe that his wrestling will give him and edge over Sotiropoulos.

One thing is for sure, both of the fighters are going to showcase some of the best submission skills in the game.

WKR analysis 

There is a lot riding on this bout for both of the fighters. George wants to put on a show for the home fans. When the fight was rumored, MMA Mania reported that the Aussie was extremely eager to sign on the dotted line and fight in his native Australia.

In my opinion, the fact that Sotiropulos is fighting in his native country will be a key factor, as he will come out like a bat out of hell and focus on securing a submission. If Sotiropulos walks out of the cage with a win over a name fighter like Stevenson; it would move him that much closer to that main tier of contenders within the lightweight division.

I see Stevenson losing this bout. Why am I picking against the four to one favorite? Because I believe in that special magic of the home town crowd cheering on their fighter to victory. I guess that makes me sentimental. 

Fun Fact

Joe Stevenson really likes Chinese food at 1:30 am in the morning. How do I know this? Well, I met Joe at a Chinese restaurant after UFC 105 at 1:30 am.