George Sotiropoulos | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC: What Does It Mean to Lose Three in a Row?

Some guys seem to have all the luck. Well, maybe not all the luck, but as much luck as one can have in a career where being beaten unconscious at the workplace is a regular reality. Guys like George Sotiropoulous, Dan Hardy and Jeremy Stephens come to …

Some guys seem to have all the luck.

Well, maybe not all the luck, but as much luck as one can have in a career where being beaten unconscious at the workplace is a regular reality.

Guys like George Sotiropoulous, Dan Hardy and Jeremy Stephens come to mind. Mark Hominick, Keith Jardine and Stephan Bonnar too. Tito Ortiz also, though his status as a legend softens the blow a little.

These men—the lucky, if you will—are men who have lost three fights in a row in the UFC and lived to tell about it, lived to fight (or be given the chance to fight) another day in the famed Octagon.

You see, losing three in a row in the UFC has long been seen as a ticket back to regional territories to work on your game. More guys have been cut from the roster after such a slide than you can count, as the promotion simply doesn’t have the time or interest to coddle fighters on a slide.

However there seem to be exceptions.

If you’re a regional star, like Sotiropoulos in Australia, Hardy in England or Hominick in Canada, you’ll be given some leeway.

If you’re an exciting fighter like the latter two above, Jardine, Bonnar or Stephens, you’ll probably be given a chance to stick around too.

If there’s money to be made from your name on a marquee, like Ortiz, you can lose forever and still be a UFC fighter.

But what kind of message does that send?

In a sport where there is really only one cage to rule them all and only so many spots on the roster, the mixed bag of results, politicking and marketability have definitely left for some questionable decisions.

Within the past week alone, both Sotiropoulos and Stephens each suffered their third straight UFC defeats. While this has been enough to send plenty of guys packing, there’s no word that Sotiropoulos will be cut and Stephens has already announced a drop to 145 pounds for his next UFC fight.

Jared Papazian is a more-talk-than-action flyweight who also lost his third straight fight on the same weekend, but you can’t help but think he’ll be offered the soft landing of the others. He’s not from a place where the UFC is trying to break in, and he’s done little to show himself as exciting or particularly engaging to the average fan.

The point here is not to note that Papazian is better or worse than Sotiropoulos or Stephens, but rather it’s to ask a question of the way the UFC runs its roster: What does it actually mean to lose three in a row?

There are no easy fights in the UFC, and in a sport where a loss can happen faster than it takes to wake up from a well-placed right hand, how can there be a number to justify a fighter’s value to the promotion? How do you say “this guy lost three in a row, but he’s good enough to keep around” only to follow it up with “this guy did too, but he’s not”?

There are too many factors at play to base a fighter’s path off of a trio of losses like it’s some holy number. Unfortunately, that seems to have been the case for far too long now.

It comes down to either being in or out. If you lose three in a row, you’re out. If you don’t, you’re in.

That may make matters complex when bigger names get cut, and perhaps it’s the type of thing that would get Zuffa thinking about resurrecting WEC or Strikeforce to serve as a developmental promotion for guys to get better but remain under their control, but it needs to happen.

The only exception, possibly, would be losing a title fight and then losing three straight, which is more justifiable. Otherwise guys need to know that if they go on a skid, regardless of who they are, they’ll be acknowledged as no longer being UFC calibre.

It happens in other sports all the time. Look at how fast the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts cut ties with living legend Peyton Manning, or at the number of NHL and MLB stars that finished their careers on waivers or in the minors.

The UFC should be no different—you’re either good enough or you’re not, and who you are has nothing to do with it.

So what does losing three in a row at the UFC level mean? Who even knows anymore. But it’s pretty clear that it means different things to different fighters, and that’s something that should probably change.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Pearson Smashes Sotiropoulos, Brits & Aussies Share the Spoils Down Under

Those of you who have read my ramblings for a while will know that I’m not really a fan of reality TV. Out of all of The Ultimate Fighter series, I’ve only watched three all the way through, and one of them was because I’d been asked …

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like a good scrap, which is why I always try to watch the finals, and this past weekend we were treated to two finals shows, beginning with the Brits taking on the Aussies in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, shown in the early hours of this past Saturday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the middleweight division as Hector Lombard faced Rousimar Palhares.

This one I liked. It began with an exchange of leg kicks before they began moving around the cage looking for an opening. As the round went on Lombard began to take control with his lead right, putting Palhares on his backside.

Although he got back to his feet it was a position that Lombard put him back in a few moments later. Lombard followed him down but Palhares tired him up, letting him up after a few seconds.

It may have been wiser for Palhares to keep him on the ground. Lombard continued to stalk Palhares around the cage, and a left hand rocked Palhares as he slumped to the canvas. Lombard followed him down for a spot of ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Lombard the TKO win.

Then it was on to the lightweight final, the all-British affair between Colin Fletcher and Norman Parke.

Even though I don’t watch the series I do find it interesting when you see two team mates going up against each other, which was the case with these close friends.

Both fighters went into this one eager to put on a keenly contested encounter, and Parke put on a nice display of ground fighting early on. Although Fletcher managed to get back to his feet after the initial trip to the ground it wasn’t long before Parke took control.

Fletcher had slightly more success in the second round, but for a man who had a natural height and reach advantage over his opponent he didn’t seem very intent on using those assets, and as the fight progressed it was Parke who fought as if he was the bigger of the two.

But with no finish in sight the judges were called into action for the first time during the broadcast as Parke took the unanimous decision.

The welterweight final followed as Robert Whittaker took on Bradley Scott.

Now this was a fight, and a damn good one at that. For three rounds the Aussie and the Brit put on a truly riveting contest.

Both fighters had some really big moments in this one. Whittaker’s striking looked top notch in the first round, his “blitz,” as the commentator called it, caused Scott no end of trouble. It looked like he was going to get the win then and there.

Scott’s best moments came with some nice ground fighting in the second. At one point he managed to take Whittaker’s back, and although he did a good job of controlling the action he just couldn’t find that rear naked choke he was looking for.

Whittaker came back strongly in the third, and his striking looked even better as he added a few elbows into the mix, opening up a nasty cut on the Brit’s hairline.

But with no finish the judges were called upon once again as Whittaker took the unanimous decision.

The main event featured lightweight action, the battle of the coaches as George Sotiropoulos took on Ross Pearson.

This one featured plenty of great action and it looked like it was going to end quickly when Pearson rocked Sotiropoulos early on. The Aussie managed to weather the storm though, and his rubber legs soon stiffened enough so he could made a comeback which culminated in a rear naked choke attempt at the end of the round.

As the second round began, Pearson began to have more and more success in the striking department. An outside leg kick sent Sotiropoulos crashing, and he was on the ground a few moments later when Pearson rocked him again. Sotiropoulos had his moments, but Pearson was getting better and better as the fight went on.

This was more than evident in the third. Pearson rocked his man in the opening few seconds, and although Sotiropoulos went into survival mode he soon found himself on the ground and on the receiving end of a barrage of blows, with the referee stepping in to give Pearson the TKO win.

In conclusion—the first of my UFC double bill proved to be a highly entertaining affair, and it showed once again that you don’t have to watch an entire Ultimate Fighter series to enjoy the finale.

All of the fights were very good, and the performances of those who made the finals showed that both Britain and Australia have some very talented fighters coming through their respective ranks. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if those who didn’t get the big contracts found themselves on future UFC cars.

As for my fight of the night once again I was spoiled for choice. I did consider giving it to the Pearson/Sotiropoulos main event, but this time around the no-prize goes to the welterweight final between Robert Whittaker and Bradley Scott, although it does pain me a little to give it to a fight where an Aussie beat a Brit!

But with that being said this was a great show, which is why I’m going to give it the big thumbs up.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

George Sotiropoulos Was Allegedly K.O.’d by Ross Pearson’s Boxing Coach on the Set of ‘TUF: The Smashes’

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click it for the glorious, punch-face-tacular full-size version.)

If we ever re-launch our MMA Mythology comic series — which, like so many CagePotato features before it, sputtered out immediately after its debut — the tale of George Sotiropoulos getting knocked out off-camera during the filming of TUF: The Smashes would definitely deserve its own installment.

According to Team U.K. coach Ross Pearson, the incident occurred midway through the show’s filming, and began with some smack-talk between he and G-Sots over Twitter. At some point, Pearson’s assistant boxing coach Erin Beach* inserted himself into the eDrama. So, the next time Sotiropoulos saw Beach on set, the Australian fighter threw a punch at him. Beach fought back, and knocked Sotiropoulos clean out. MMAJunkie has more details:

The scrap drew an instant response from UFC President Dana White, who raised Pearson and his team on the phone. “Dana chewed our heads off,” Pearson said. “George was acting unprofessional. I get paid to fight; I don’t fight in the streets for free.”

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Click it for the glorious, punch-face-tacular full-size version.)

The scrap drew an instant response from UFC President Dana White, who raised Pearson and his team on the phone. ”Dana chewed our heads off,” Pearson said. “George was acting unprofessional. I get paid to fight; I don’t fight in the streets for free.”

While Sotiropoulos’ alleged KO would not have fallen within a time frame to preclude him from competing against Pearson, it could have severely affected his preparation if he allowed himself to recover.

As you’d imagine, any mention of the incident was scrubbed from the series. Sotiropoulos went on to suffer a third-round TKO at the hands of Pearson during Friday’s Smashes Finale, becoming the first TUF coach to (allegedly) be knocked out twice on the same season. Sotiropoulos is currently on a three-fight losing streak in the Octagon, and now that he’s drawn the wrath of his boss, his future in the promotion is very uncertain.

* Beach was briefly a TUF competitor himself, eating an eight-second TKO against Sam Sicilia during the elimination round of TUF: Live…

George Sotiropoulos Allegedly Knocked Out By Ross Pearson’s Coach on TUF

Ross Pearson was just following in his coach’s footsteps when he knocked out George Sotiropoulos at UFC on FX 6.After the fight, Pearson took heat from the partisan crowd for refusing to shake the Australian native’s hand.Apparently, the beef stems fro…

Ross Pearson was just following in his coach’s footsteps when he knocked out George Sotiropoulos at UFC on FX 6.

After the fight, Pearson took heat from the partisan crowd for refusing to shake the Australian native’s hand.

Apparently, the beef stems from an off-camera incident that occurred between Sotiropoulos and Erin Beach, Pearson’s boxing coach, during filming for The Ultimate Fighter: Team Australia vs. Team U.K.

According to Pearson, Sotiropoulos confronted Beach about comments made on Twitter, but instead of squashing the issue like a professional, the Aussie threw a punch. After being struck, Beach defended himself and knocked out Sotiropoulos.

MMAJunkie caught up with Pearson to get his thoughts on the alleged incident:

That’s why I said I lost all respect for him, and that’s why I didn’t shake his hands afterward. That’s why I’m not his friend now – because he acted unprofessional.

Sotiropoulos and Pearson served as opposing coaches on the second international installment of TUF, and Beach was brought in to help with the coaching for Team Pearson.

The incident drew the ire of UFC President Dana White, who wasn’t too pleased to find out one of his fighters was knocked unconscious during a random physical altercation.

What if Sotiropoulos or Beach were seriously injured? The incident also put the entire UFC on FX 6 fight card in jeopardy.

Pearson recalls his entire team being called into a room for a phone interview with an incredibly upset White on the other end:

Dana chewed our heads off. George was acting unprofessional. I get paid to fight; I don’t fight in the streets for free.

Sotiropoulos may want to stay off Twitter.

The loss to Pearson marks his third straight in the UFC. The recent falloff has been steep for Sotiropoulos, who was riding an eight-fight win streak.

His camp has yet to give a response on the alleged incident.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson Aftermath: Meh…

You know, I won’t bother asking here. Props: Cagewall.com

You probably noticed this, but we usually lead off weekend coverage with event aftermath articles – especially the day after a UFC event. Today, not only did we lead off with a story about Cro Cop playing basketball, but honestly, we considered not writing an aftermath at all for this card. With nothing significant on the line, a total lack of Bruce Buffer and no especially memorable finishes, it’s hard to really say too much about last night’s UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson.

In the main event, Ross Pearson looked good in his return to lightweight. His boxing proved to be too much for Sotiropoulos throughout the fight, as Pearson eventually scored the TKO in round three. Not a bad fight by any means, but not especially memorable, either. Sotiropoulos has now lost three straight, with his last victory being a submission over Joe Lauzon back in 2010. And Pearson? Well, he won. I was going to write that he reestablished his place in the lightweight division, but he was never more than a mid-tier fighter in arguably the UFC’s deepest talent pool in the first place.

This concern over the lack of significance in the division leads directly into the TUF Smashes finals. I’m not saying that the Smashes winners Norman Parke and Robert Whittaker looked bad last night, as they didn’t. Nor will I say that their fights were boring to sit through – I actually think Whittaker vs. Scott deserved Fight of the Night honors. Rather, I simply don’t see either fighter having any sort of relevant future in the UFC.

You know, I won’t bother asking here. Props: Cagewall.com

As mentioned earlier, the lightweight division is simply too deep for Norman Parke to make any sort of meaningful impact at this stage in his career. He’ll enjoy the mandatory post-TUF tomato can, but with the division being so competitive, the honeymoon phase won’t last. While Colin Fletcher may have been too busy looking for some new, terrifying shades of clown make-up to learn how to sprawl, the rest of the lightweight division won’t be taken down as easily. Likewise, the welterweight division may not be as stacked, but it’s certainly top-heavy enough to prevent Robert Whittaker from gaining immediate relevance.

In other words, don’t let the ”UFC on FX” label fool you. Last night’s card was very much a TUF Finale, and produced exactly what you would expect a TUF Finale to produce: Not much.

Perhaps the most relevant fight of the night kicked off the show, as Hector Lombard made a quick, brutal example out of Rousimar Palhares. The fight was everything we expected out of Lombard when he signed with the UFC – he was aggressive, he landed hard punches seemingly at will and was never in any real danger of losing this fight (or his ACL). The victory doesn’t entirely make up for his abysmal UFC debut, but it prevents him from being a total bust signing. He called out Bisping in the post-fight interview, but we’ll have to wait and see how Bisping fairs against Vitor Belfort before attempting to set that one up.

As for Paul Harris, I hate to say it, but the loss makes the Brazilian the scariest looking jobber on the UFC roster. His “heel hook anything standing in front of me” strategy may work against the lower end of the midleweight division, but against the more diverse, more talented middleweights, he’s clearly out of his league. I don’t see Palhares getting cut, but perennial undercard fighter isn’t too much better of a position to be in.

Fight of the Night went to Nick Penner vs. Cody Donovan, while Knockout of the Night went to Ben Alloway for his first round knockout over Manuel Rodriguez.

Full Results:

Main Card:

Ross Pearson def. George Sotiropoulos via TKO, 0:41 of Round Three
Robert Whittaker def. Brad Scott via unanimous decision
Norman Parke def. Colin Fletcher via unanimous decision
Hector Lombard def. Rousimar Palhares via KO, 3:38 of Round One

Preliminary Card:

Chad Mendes def. Yaotzen Meza via TKO, 1:55 of Round One
Joey Beltran def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision
Mike Pierce def. Seth Baczynski via unanimous decision
Ben Alloway def. Manuel Rodriguez via KO, 4:57 of Round One
Mike Wilkinson def. Brendan Loughnane via unanimous decision
Cody Donovan def. Nick Penner via TKO, 4:35 of Round One

@SethFalvo

UFC on FX 6 Results: Power Ranking the Main Card Fights

UFC on FX 6 delivered on a quiet Friday night.George Sotiropoulos and Ross Pearson headlined the card that served as the finale for The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, where they were opposing coaches.Pearson got the better of the fight. He dropped Sotiropo…

UFC on FX 6 delivered on a quiet Friday night.

George Sotiropoulos and Ross Pearson headlined the card that served as the finale for The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, where they were opposing coaches.

Pearson got the better of the fight. He dropped Sotiropoulos numerous times and got the knockout finish in the third frame.

Also on the card from Australia’s Gold Coast, Hector Lombard put on the performance he’d likely hoped for in his previous outing, a loss in his UFC debut to Tim Boetsch. Lombard knocked Rousimar Palhares out in the first round, then called out contender Michael Bisping.

The two Smashes finales were Colin Fletcher vs. Norman Parke and Robert Whittaker vs. Brad Scott. Parke and Whittaker claimed Smashes titles in their respective divisions.

Here is how the four fights stacked up to one another.

Begin Slideshow