Photo via UFC.com
Welterweight fighter, ‘The Fireball Kid’ Takanori Gomi (32-8, 1NC) is set to return home as Ultimate Fighting Championship officials announced a bout between the Japanese fighter and Australian, George Sotiropoulos (14-4) for the upcoming UFC 144 event.
The bout was announced late Sunday night at UFC.com, making several previous announced matchups official for UFC Japan (UFC 144).
UFC Japan: Edgar vs. Henderson is scheduled to take place on February 26 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Headlining will be a UFC lightweight championship bout between promotion champ Frankie Edgar and former WEC champ Benson Henderson.
It was predictable that Gomi would be featured on the Japanese card despite having lost his last two and is 1-3 in his four Octagon appearances. He was submitted in his two recent defeats, first by Nate Diaz at UFC 135 in the first round last September, and then by Clay Guida at UFC 125 last January. He won’t find it any easier against Sotiropoulos who is known for his strong Jiu-Jitsu.
Sotiropoulos finds himself in a similar situation as Gomi, having dropped his last two. The ‘Aussie’ was knocked out in 59-seconds of his last bout, a KO loss to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 132 last July. Previous to that he dropped a unanimous decision to Dennis Siver at UFC 127 in February. The loss to Siver ended an eight fight win streak which included seven in the Octagon.
If Gomi can keep away from Sotiropoulos’ submissions, I think he’ll hold the edge but most Japanese fighters have yet to adapt the wrestling game that is so prevalent in mixed martial arts. I feel that Sotiropoulos will take this one to the mat and submit ‘The Fireball Kid’ before the end of the second.