Tag: George Sotiropoulos

UFC Booking Roundup: Lombard, Stout & Maldonado Have Next Opponents, ‘TUF Smashes’ Finals Set


Hint.

With the UFC returning to Australia with UFC on FX 6 on December 14, the promotion is beginning to announce upcoming bouts. While the organization hasn’t announced a venue for said return yet, the card will be headlined by Hector Lombard attempting to redeem himself after his promotional debut at UFC 149, a completely forgettable three round sleeper against Tim Boetsch. The Cuban-born Australian has been given a second chance against none other than Brazilian leg lock specialist Rousimar Palhares. In other words, he isn’t exactly being given a rebound fight.

We all know about the lofty expectations that Hector Lombard carried into the UFC as a Bellator middleweight champion who hasn’t lost in twenty five fights. While Lombard claims that he was too injured to have been fighting during his UFC 149 clash against Tim Boetsch, many fans were quick to jump off of the Lombard bandwagon after that performance. A loss to perennial almost-contender Rousimar Palhares – especially a boring loss to Paul Harris, if that’s possible – could be enough to send Lombard back to Bellator. Likewise, Palhares has built an impressive 7-3 record in the UFC, yet has choked in the fights that would separate him from the pack and potentially earn him a title shot. If Toquinho can’t secure one of Lombard’s legs, he may be permanently relegated to gatekeeper status. Not exactly a great spot for either guy to be in.

Also, UFC on FX 6 will feature the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, including the fight between TUF: Smashes coaches George Sotiropoulos and Ross Pearson. You guys remember Smashes, right? British fighters squaring off against Aussies? The answer to the TUF ratings woes? An opportunity for comments sections across the internet to rant about cockiness and make “That’s not a _____, THIS is a _____!” jokes? Well, you have three months to get familiar with it.

In other booking news…


Hint.

With the UFC returning to Australia with UFC on FX 6 on December 14, the promotion is beginning to announce upcoming bouts. While the organization hasn’t announced a venue for said return yet, the card will be headlined by Hector Lombard attempting to redeem himself after his promotional debut at UFC 149, a completely forgettable three round sleeper against Tim Boetsch. The Cuban-born Australian has been given a second chance against none other than Brazilian leg lock specialist Rousimar Palhares. In other words, he isn’t exactly being given a rebound fight.

We all know about the lofty expectations that Hector Lombard carried into the UFC as a Bellator middleweight champion who hasn’t lost in twenty five fights. While Lombard claims that he was too injured to have been fighting during his UFC 149 clash against Tim Boetsch, many fans were quick to jump off of the Lombard bandwagon after that performance. A loss to perennial almost-contender Rousimar Palhares – especially a boring loss to Paul Harris, if that’s possible – could be enough to send Lombard back to Bellator. Likewise, Palhares has built an impressive 7-3 record in the UFC, yet has choked in the fights that would separate him from the pack and potentially earn him a title shot. If Toquinho can’t secure one of Lombard’s legs, he may be permanently relegated to gatekeeper status. Not exactly a great spot for either guy to be in.

Also, UFC on FX 6 will feature the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes, including the fight between TUF: Smashes coaches George Sotiropoulos and Ross Pearson. You guys remember Smashes, right? British fighters squaring off against Aussies? The answer to the TUF ratings woes? An opportunity for comments sections across the internet to rant about cockiness and make “That’s not a _____, THIS is a _____!” jokes? Well, you have three months to get familiar with it.

In other booking news…

– UFC 154, which takes place in Montreal, Canada,  will feature a lightweight bout between Canadians Sam Stout and John Makdessi (In professional wrestling, this is known as a hometown pop). Stout is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Spencer Fisher at UFC on FX 3, which earned Fight of the Night honors. Makdessi, meanwhile, is riding a two fight losing streak. His most recent loss was a unanimous decision against Anthony Njokuani at UFC 145, which was held at a catchweight of 158 pounds because Makdessi missed weight. Don’t expect him to remain employed by the UFC if he drops this contest.

– Yesterday, we announced that Swedish kickboxing legend Jorgen Kruth had retired from competition, despite being one month away from his UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 5. His original opponent, Fabio Maldonado, will now fight Cyrille Diabate. Presumably because asking Maldonado to fight a completely different striker with less than one month to prepare for him would be the dumbest idea ever, the UFC has decided to shift this bout to UFC 154 as well. Diabate is coming off of a majority decision victory over Tom DeBlass at UFC on FUEL 2.

So, who ya got?

@SethFalvo

Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin Announced as Coaches for ‘TUF 16: Fat David vs. Goliath’


(For his final masterpiece, Michelangelo decided to pay tribute to the Biblical hero’s fall from grace through the medium of hamstone. The results were shocking, yet delicious.)

As is likely the case for most of you, we here at CagePotato are more than willing to admit that we all but completely missed out on the failed experiment that was TUF Live. The placement of the show on Friday nights, the rehashed trash-talk and pranks between coaches; it just seemed all too played out and tired to really get us hooked. The fact that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL with only a couple episodes to go only furthered our belief that the season would have been a complete loss if not for the uplifting story of the season’s lightweight winner, Don Cheadle (or something like that).

So when Dana White informed USA TODAY Sports yesterday that the coaches for this season would be polar opposite heavyweights Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, it more than piqued our interest. Aside from being the winner of the show’s tenth (and arguably least talent filled) season, TUF: Heavyweights, Nelson is by all accounts, one entertaining and funny sumbitch. Carwin, on the other hand, has shown before that he is up for a good joshing as long as it is not aimed at him. If you recall, the last time we got on Carwin’s bad side, Old Dad packed up his things, fled, faked his death, died his eyebrows, and attended his own funeral as a man named Phil Schiffley. The last we heard, he was still reporting on all things MMA from a one man vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean out of fear that “The Engineer” was still looking for him. So clearly, the potential for hilarity between these two on the set is higher than Nelson’s cholesterol levels.


(For his final masterpiece, Michelangelo decided to pay tribute to the Biblical hero’s fall from grace through the medium of hamstone. The results were shocking, yet delicious.)

As is likely the case for most of you, we here at CagePotato are more than willing to admit that we all but completely missed out on the failed experiment that was TUF Live. The placement of the show on Friday nights, the rehashed trash-talk and pranks between coaches; it just seemed all too played out and tired to really get us hooked. The fact that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL with only a couple episodes to go only furthered our belief that the season would have been a complete loss if not for the uplifting story of the season’s lightweight winner, Don Cheadle (or something like that).

So when Dana White informed USA TODAY Sports yesterday that the coaches for this season would be polar opposite heavyweights Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, it more than piqued our interest. Aside from being the winner of the show’s tenth (and arguably least talent filled) season, TUF: Heavyweights, Nelson is by all accounts, one entertaining and funny sumbitch. Carwin, on the other hand, has shown before that he is up for a good joshing as long as it is not aimed at him. If you recall, the last time we got on Carwin’s bad side, Old Dad packed up his things, fled, faked his death, died his eyebrows, and attended his own funeral as a man named Phil Schiffley. The last we heard, he was still reporting on all things MMA from a one man vessel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean out of fear that “The Engineer” was still looking for him. So clearly, the potential for hilarity between these two on the set is higher than Nelson’s cholesterol levels.

And although Carwin did in fact take a year away from action following his UFC 131 loss to Junior Dos Santos to search the world over for Fowlkes, he also spent a good deal of time rehabilitating his back. Coincidentally, it was this very injury that forced him out of his original matchup with Nelson at UFC 125.

“Big Country” most recently found his way back to the win column with a first round knockout of Dave Herman at UFC 146. Just 2-3 in his past five, Nelson certainly won’t be looking at a title shot with a win over Carwin, but a victory would undoubtedly be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, of his Zuffa career.

And in other TUF coaching news…

For those of you who didn’t stick around to catch the post-fight show on FUEL TV last night, DW also announced that the coaches for the second international season of TUF, which will see fighters from the UK square off against Australia’s finest, will be TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and TUF 6 standout George Sotiropoulus. Both men have fallen on hard times as of late, with G Sots dropping his past two to Dennis Siver (via decision) and Rafael Dos Anjos (via lawn chair KO). After dropping to featherweight following a 4-2 UFC stint at lightweight and scoring a unanimous decision victory over Junior Assuncao, Pearson most recently screwed our parlay over royally when he was knocked out by Cub Swanson in the second round of their tilt at UFC on FX 4.

So, Potato Nation, do these matchups do anything for you?

–J. Jones

Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Kamal Shalorus Set for UFC on FUEL 3 in May


(Dos Anjos pulls off a picture perfect lawn chair KO on George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132.) 

Kamal Shalorus has had a difficult time making the leap from the WEC to the UFC. After putting together a 3-0-1 record in the now deceased promotion, “The Prince of Persia” has dropped two straight — a first round TKO to top contender Jim Miller at UFC 128 and a third round submission at the hands of newcomer Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. In what his final shot under the Zuffa banner, Shalorus will not be given an easy victory, as he has been booked to take on Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC on FUEL 3, which goes down on May 15 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Dos Anjos, on the other hand, sandwiched the above KO over G-Sots between a pair of losses to Clay Guida (via submission due to jaw injury) and the Anthony Johnson of the lightweight division, Gleison Tibau (by SD).

Also booked for Fairfax…


(Dos Anjos pulls off a picture perfect lawn chair KO on George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132.) 

Kamal Shalorus has had a difficult time making the leap from the WEC to the UFC. After putting together a 3-0-1 record in the now deceased promotion, “The Prince of Persia” has dropped two straight — a first round TKO to top contender Jim Miller at UFC 128 and a third round submission at the hands of newcomer Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. In what his final shot under the Zuffa banner, Shalorus will not be given an easy victory, as he has been booked to take on Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC on FUEL 3, which goes down on May 15 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Dos Anjos, on the other hand, sandwiched the above KO over G-Sots between a pair of losses to Clay Guida (via submission due to jaw injury) and the Anthony Johnson of the lightweight division, Gleison Tibau (by SD).

Also booked for Fairfax…

Following a seven year absence from the octagon that saw him go 19-6, Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran returned to the UFC last October at UFC 137. It was less than successful, as he dropped a unanimous decision to Scott Jorgensen in a match that was forgotten about before it was even over. For his next fight, Curran will be taking a significant step down in competition when he faces Johnny Eduardo in a bantamweight contest. Eduardo, a 25-9 product out of Nova Uniao, came up short in his UFC debut in August, where he was out grappled by Raphael Assuncao en route to a unanimous decision loss.

Finally, lightweights T.J Grant and Carlo Prater are set to throw down on the UFC on FUEL 3 undercard as well. You remember Carlo Prater, don’t you? He was the guy who took the road less traveled to victory at UFC 142, upsetting Erick Silva by way of superior positioning to allow illegal punches to the back of his head. It’s called strategery, Potato Nation.

Anyway, check out the full lineup for UFC on FUEL 3 below. I DEFY YOU to name the website I copy/pasted it from.

  • Featherweight bout: United States Dustin Poirier vs. South Korea Chan Sung Jung
  • Light Heavyweight bout: Brazil Thiago Silva vs. Croatia Igor Pokrajac
  • Lightweight bout: United States Donald Cerrone vs. United States Jeremy Stephens
  • Lightweight bout: Brazil Rafael dos Anjos vs. Iran Kamal Shalorus
  • Lightweight bout: Canada TJ Grant vs. Brazil Carlo Prater
  • Middleweight bout: United States Tom Lawlor vs. Canada Jason MacDonald
  • Welterweight bout: United States Amir Sadollah vs. United States Jorge Lopez
  • Lightweight bout: United States Cody McKenzie vs. United States Aaron Riley
  • Middleweight bout: United States Brad Tavares vs. South Korea Dongi Yang
  • Bantamweight bout: Haiti Yves Jabouin vs. United States Mike Easton
  • Bantamweight bout: United States Jeff Curran vs. Brazil Johnny Eduardo
  • Bantamweight bout: Mexico Alex Soto vs. Russia Azamat Gashimov

-J. Jones

MMA Gif Tribute: 9 ‘Lawn Chair’ Knockouts


(If anyone can explain what is going on in this photo, we’ll give you Carmen Valentina’s digits.) 

After Edson Barboza’s spinning heel kick KO over Terry Etim gave birth to the phrase “falling tree” knockout here on CP, we got to thinking, what other classifications of devastation existed in the MMA highlight-o-sphere? Debates got heated, egos got crushed, and limbs got mangled, but we were eventually able to agree that the next category of KO’s in need of appreciation was that of the “lawn chair.”

What is a “lawn chair” knockout, you ask? Well, it’s that special kind of knockout, perhaps the complete opposite of a “falling tree,” in which the victim’s legs give out from underneath them almost instantaneously after the lethal blow is delivered, often forcing their body to collapse into itself like that of a common lawn chair. And to add insult to injury, the poor son of a bitch often receives an unnecessary strike courtesy of his own knee on the way down. Here are nine of the finest examples, in no particular order.

Chuck Liddell v. Guy Mezger

Ricardo Lamas v. Bendy Casimir

Check out seven more beautiful examples of this phenomena after the jump.


(If anyone can explain what is going on in this photo, we’ll give you Carmen Valentina’s digits.) 

After Edson Barboza’s spinning heel kick KO over Terry Etim gave birth to the phrase “falling tree” knockout here on CP, we got to thinking, what other classifications of devastation existed in the MMA highlight-o-sphere? Debates got heated, egos got crushed, and limbs got mangled, but we were eventually able to agree that the next category of KO’s in need of appreciation was that of the “lawn chair.”

What is a “lawn chair” knockout, you ask? Well, it’s that special kind of knockout, perhaps the complete opposite of a “falling tree,” in which the victim’s legs give out from underneath them almost instantaneously after the lethal blow is delivered, often forcing their body to collapse into itself like that of a common lawn chair. And to add insult to injury, the poor son of a bitch often receives an unnecessary strike courtesy of his own knee on the way down. Here are nine of the finest examples, in no particular order.

Chuck Liddell v. Guy Mezger

Ricardo Lamas v. Bendy Casimir

Rafael Dos Anjos v. George Sotiropoulos 

Pablo Garza v. Fredson Paixao

Anderson Silva v. Vitor Belfort

Sotiropoulos Out, Mitsuoka In Against Takanori Gomi at UFC 144


Eiji Mitsuoka looks to make it three straight against “The Fireball Kid”

As first reported by MMAWeekly.com, George Sotiropoulos has pulled out of his upcoming bout against Takanori Gomi due to an undisclosed injury. With one month to go until UFC 144, it is likely that thirty six year old UFC newcomer Eiji Mitsuoka will now be fighting against Takanori Gomi. The UFC has yet to confirm the rumored matchup.

Don’t start screaming “squash fight!” just yet. Eiji Mitsuoka is 18-7-2 in his MMA career, with eleven of his victories coming by submission. Considering that six of Gomi’s eight losses have been by submissions, things should get interesting if Mitsuoka can get Gomi to the ground. The PRIDE veteran also holds notable victories over Joachim Hansen, Gleison Tibau and Rodrigo Damm. Mitsuoka’s most recent performance has been a unanimous decision over Bruno Carvalho at Dream: Japan GP Final on July 16, 2011. Videos available after the jump.


Eiji Mitsuoka looks to make it three straight against “The Fireball Kid”

As first reported by MMAWeekly.com, George Sotiropoulos has pulled out of his upcoming bout against Takanori Gomi due to an undisclosed injury. With one month to go until UFC 144, it is likely that thirty six year old UFC newcomer Eiji Mitsuoka will now be fighting against Takanori Gomi. The UFC has yet to confirm the rumored matchup.

Don’t start screaming “squash fight!” just yet. Eiji Mitsuoka is  18-7-2 in his MMA career, with eleven of his victories coming by submission. Considering that six of Gomi’s eight losses have been by submissions, things should get interesting if Mitsuoka can get Gomi to the ground. The PRIDE veteran also holds notable victories over Joachim Hansen, Gleison Tibau and Rodrigo Damm. Mitsuoka’s most recent performance has been a unanimous decision over Bruno Carvalho at Dream: Japan GP Final on July 16, 2011. Videos available after the jump.


UFC 144 goes down on February 26 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The full fight card now looks like this:

Main card:
Lightweight Championship Bout: Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson
Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader
Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon

Preliminary card:
Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch
Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee
Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso
Tiequan Zhang vs. Leonard Garcia

So what say you, Potato Nation? Is Eiji Mitsuoka going to be one and done in the UFC, or will “The Fireball Kid” lose his third straight fight?

Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos Added to UFC 144 in Japan


(Gomi Head approves of this matchup. Props: Dallas Winston.)

Takanori Gomi‘s run in the UFC has resulted in an underwhelming 1-3 record, marked by submission losses to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UFC is giving the Fireball Kid one more try in front of his home country’s fans — or at least the ones who will be dragging ass to the Saitama Super Arena early enough to catch the prelims.

The UFC has confirmed that Gomi will return at UFC 144 on February 26th, against Aussie grappling specialist George Sotiropoulos, who’s also had a rough go of it lately. After going 7-0 in the Octagon following his stint on TUF 6, Sotiropoulos is now riding back-to-back losses against Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos. In other words, jobs could be on the line here.

Gomi vs. GSots brings the UFC 144 card up to 12 star-studded fights, including the lightweight title headliner between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson, and bouts featuring Quinton Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Jake Shields, Joe Lauzon, and Yushin Okami. Check out the current lineup after the jump, before injuries blow it all to hell.


(Gomi Head approves of this matchup. Props: Dallas Winston.)

Takanori Gomi‘s run in the UFC has resulted in an underwhelming 1-3 record, marked by submission losses to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UFC is giving the Fireball Kid one more try in front of his home country’s fans — or at least the ones who will be dragging ass to the Saitama Super Arena early enough to catch the prelims.

The UFC has confirmed that Gomi will return at UFC 144 on February 26th, against Aussie grappling specialist George Sotiropoulos, who’s also had a rough go of it lately. After going 7-0 in the Octagon following his stint on TUF 6, Sotiropoulos is now riding back-to-back losses against Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos. In other words, jobs could be on the line here.

Gomi vs. GSots brings the UFC 144 card up to 12 star-studded fights, including the lightweight title headliner between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson, and bouts featuring Quinton Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Jake Shields, Joe Lauzon, and Yushin Okami. Check out the current lineup after the jump, before injuries blow it all to hell.

MAIN CARD
Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson (for lightweight championship)
Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader (LHW)
Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt (HW)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields (WW)
Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon (LW)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch (MW)
Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell (MW)
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee (BW)
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso (BW)
Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos (LW)
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski (FW)
Tiequan Zhang vs. Leonard Garcia (FW)