TUF 'The Smashes coaches George Sotiropoulos (L) and Ross Pearson (R)
Coaches for the second international ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ series “The Smashes”, British fighter and TUF 9 winner Ross ‘The Real Deal’ Pearson (13-6), and Australian submission specialist George Sotiropoulos (14-4), will meet ‘Down Under’ in a lightweight bout this December at UFC on FX 6.
News of the bout was first announced by MMAWeekly.com on Friday, who also noted that the finals of the TUF Team Australia vs. Team U.K. season would also be featured on the card.
UFC on FX: Lombard vs. Palhares (aka UFC on FX 6) is expected to take place on December 15, 2012 at an undetermined city and venue in Australia.
Pearson moves back up to lightweight after going 1-1 in the featherweight division and carries a 5-3 record overall into the Octagon for his meeting with Sotiropoulos. ‘The Real Deal’ suffered a second round TKO loss to Cub Swanson this past June at UFC on FX 4 while fighting at 145-lbs. His featherweight debut proved successful with a unanimous decision victory over Junior Assunção last December at UFC 141.
Sotiropoulos hasn’t been inside of the Octagon for over a year due to injury. The Australian had been scheduled to face Takanori Gomi at UFC 144 last February but withdrew after an injury. Sotiropoulos last fought in July 2011 where he lost a second straight bout, after suffering a first round knockout at the hands of Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 132. The other defeat came at the hands of Dennis Siver at UFC 127 via decision. Sotiropoulos earned his last victory at UFC 123 over Joe Lauzon in November 2010.