Dana White believes title shot is in George Sotiropoulos' immediate future
by Gavin Vincent on February 21, 2010

"Fight of the Night" winner George Sotiropoulos did more than just earn a bundle of money and the respect of hometown fans last night in Sydney, Australia at UFC 110. The TUF 6 contestant "impressed" UFC President Dana White with a dominant performance over Joe Stevenson, and threw himself into title contention.

"Tonight was a big night for Sotiropoulos," said Dana White. "Everybody who knows MMA, knows how good Joe "Daddy" Stevenson is and he got dominated tonight. He stepped up. Not to sound condescending, but I'm really proud of him (looks over at Sotiropoulos). He looked amazing. Big night for him. Big, big night. He's in the mix. He just dominated Joe Stevenson. All the judges had it 30-27 and he just catapulted himself right into the mix. As a guy coming off of the Ultimate Fighter and to go in there and face competition like Joe Stevenson, and do what he did to Joe Stevenson, is very promising for his future. If he continues on the pace he's on now, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him in a title fight within the next year. "

Sotiropoulos would like to fight for the title in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia should their government vote to legalize MMA. An exuberant White was more than pleased with the UFC's experience in Australia, and publicly announced that they hope to come back and put a show on in Melbourne next year.

Could 2011 see Sotiropoulos fight for the lightweight title Down Under?

 |  (43) Comments Hizoka: HHAHAHAHAHA!!!! that fucks Jits post on beating Joe does not get you into title contention all to hell IwishIwasMMA: beating Joe SHOULD NOT put you into title contention. Unless you are retarded... mma3dge: he said a year.... really that's only 2-3 wins away if he does it. at that point if he dominates like he has... i would say that's a fair assumption. he isn't saying his next fight is. read the whole article. D_V: First off, hizoka is retarded, disregard anything he says. Secondly, this is a terrible article. It is taken out of context, 100%. I saw the press conference and Dana White literally laughed at the question and then said he needs several fights but with the way he looked tonight it could be within the year. Another way of saying that is isn't about to happen. If Georges beats two really awesome 155s this year than maybe next year he gets a shot. There are about 20 other 155s in that spot though. Dana doesn't think George is a contender. mma3dge: D_V "If he continues on the pace he's on now, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him in a title fight within the next year. " stranger things have happened. were talking maybe 2-3 fights. i'd think if he fought Florian, Maynard, Edgar or a combo like that and dominated... (which he likely wouldn't) he would get a shot. "terrible" is a little out of context :) Hizoka: D-V is just hatting casue Canada got spanked in hockey today D_V: Edgar wouldn't worry about George's subs. He rolls with better bjj guys and he'd never be taken down anyways and has way better technical striking. Kenny would roll George. Maynard would knock his ass. I don't see Georges beating any contenders. he's not that technical. Joe Daddy just looked really bad standing. Joe he didn't bring an A game. He doesn't have much of an A game but his hands looked slow and just kept doing the same things. Georges has some technique but no power and no combinations. Most good 155s run him over. In a rematch joe would beat him too. Once he figured out how to stay on top Georges wasn't nearly that as effective. Wandering_Minstrel: While I realize that I'll probably get a bashing, I would like to point out that before the fight, NO ONE gave George a chance of winning that fight over Joe. And he did, in dominating fashion. I realize that the smart money would be on the other top-ranked contenders, but if George continues to progress, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out the victory over any of them. The Hitman: this isnt happening. i dont care if dana said it in a fuckin press confrence, how many times has he lied before. he isnt giving george a title shot. dana may be an asshole, but he isnt that stupid. there are multiple people in line before george, you can pretty much discard this statement altogether investwithsports.com: I think the win over Stevenson was definatley a good win, ( I lost my bet in that fight) I think he needs to beat some more top guys in the division like Florian, Maynard, etc. Hopefully, BJ has the division cleaned out by then, and is back up to 170, because to be honest, I dont see a BJ/Sotoropolous fight being very competitive. IwishIwasMMA: to be honest, i dont think there are too many guys who should intentionally roll with that silly aussie. He has good sweeps, great subs and an all around controlling rubberguard ground game. Its dangerous... Guys who have excellent takedown defense and striking are going to run him down though at this point, although his striking looked excellent. If you want to see him get his ass beat, put him against Kenflo, Maynard, Sherk (if he wrestles) Tyson, etc. Dont put him against BJ unless you want to see a severed head fly through the arena seats into a childs popcorn. EverlastingSpringtime: Im aussie and a huge fan, and by no means do i think George is ready for a title shot and would agree he needs a few more wins before he gets one. IMO the next shot should go to Edger he has looked great. I think the UFC is in a similar situation to what it is with anderson silva, being that silva and penn... and gsp have beaten down almost all of the top contenders... thats why vitor got the shot over nate.... I think george needs to face a top BJJ type fighter, maybe another top striker/wrestler and then after that whats left to prove, give the man a shot, it would make for a top fight against BJ.... I guess the thing the UFC needs to work out is if they would rather give Edger the shot or have George face franky next, and let the winner take the champ..... dont care really either way Georges next opponent will be tough and as dana said with a couple more wins, he might just get a shot in about a years time or so, its easier said than done, but ill be fucked if im not gonna be positive about it, keep talkin smak people, no one gave him a chance against Joe either, he could beat Florian, Maynard imo..... Edger is the guy who is his greatest challenge now and as for BJ well... even the best come unstuck sometimes, George would do a better job than florian did :D anything can happen in a fight. Giada Esposito: A lot of people need to work on their reading comprehension. White never said that Sotiropoulos was going to get an immediate title shot. This is the key part of White's statement: "As a guy coming off of the Ultimate Fighter and to go in there and face competition like Joe Stevenson, and do what he did to Joe Stevenson, is very promising for his future. If he continues on the pace he's on now, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him in a title fight within the next year." That's a completely reasonable statement, and it's not misleading or promising anything that can't happen. Beating Stevenson was a big step up for George, and not a lot of people thought he would do it before the fight. It's clear from what White is saying though that he will need to continue beating the better fighters at 155 to get a title shot, and that means probably three fights over the next year against some very tough guys. White says that beating Stevenson is promising for George's future, which is obviously true. A lot depends now on who he fights next and how well he continues to progress. Beating Stevenson is not a ticket to a title shot, and White never said it was. But it's a good first step. Now George is going to have to step up his game again if he wants to keep working towards the belt. MAStudent: George earned his positive comments from Dana. Joe fell from one attempt into another. I loved watching it. Maybe Dana's comments mean 2 things: George is getting better, and who else is going to fight BJ? Does anyone really think Frankie will beat him when they fight? Gray Maynard? Why not throw George ni there in an Aussie UFC? I will qualify, I thought George looked improved, but not necessarily like a world beater. I remember him KO'd with his eyes open staring at the ceiling in his TUF fight. I have to say for George though, on the show and whenever he talks, he seems really focused and seems to put in more hard work in a smart way than others, in a sport filled with hardworking guys. thebutterflybee: I would love to see Winner vs Etim. HOWEVER, don't see it happening. It's not a major draw really, for non-us-type-fans at least, so I reckon it would only make an undercard, thus making many people without the right website (;)) miss out on all the fun. Also from a marketing point of view, it doesn't make sense to put two emerging British talents against each other so early in their ufc careers. Obviously I don't care about either of these reasons because I would no doubt be there, and don't care about the marketing, but nonetheless, still probably won't see it.
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Diaz def. Condit via TKO/KO
Diaz def. Condit via submission
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TAKE ANOTHER POLL!