George Sotiropoulos could get right back on track as the lightweight divisions rising star with a win against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 132. Although both men are high level jui jistu practitioners, in a recent interview with Australian televisions Jack Bullen, G-Sot revealed that he intends to showcase all of his mma skills in the match up scheduled to air on Spike TV this Saturday evening. Despite his intention, one has to wonder how long Sotiropoulos will be able to avoid the temptation to test his grappling prowess against the equally dangerous dos Anjos.
Australia’s George “G-Sot” Sotiropoulos (14-3) is a jui jitsu black belt and boxer who earned his strictly business reputation on the Ultimate Fighter 6. Although an early favorite to win it all, he was eliminated from the competition in a semi final match up. Despite the loss George went on to defeat Billy Miles at the Ultimate Fighter finale and from there continued to plow through opponents putting together an impressive seven win streak which included two fight of the night awards. As he rose in the division, Sotiropoulos was on his way to a title shot until his fire was snuffed out by Dennis Silver who handed the Aussie his first UFC loss. While such a loss might be considered a major set back to many, George is a true student of the fight game and has likely taken the loss as a learning opportunity. It’s certain that when he enters the cage to take on Rafael dos Anjos this weekend he will be ready to get back to the business of winning fights.
Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos (14-5) brings his own high level jui jitsu game into the up and coming match and is ready to get back into action himself. It’s been nearly one year since dos Anjos suffered a broken jaw in the bout against Clay Guida at UFC 117. In a recent pre fight interview with ESPN Rafael dos Anjos reported that his jaw is fully recovered and that he feels stronger than ever and determined to put away Sotiropoulos this weekend. Doing so could be a real boost for dos Anjos who goes into the bout with a mediocre record of three wins and three defeats in the UFC.
When two grappling and dangerous submission specialist step inside the Octagon you can bet that each is highly confident that their jui jitsu can win the match. But George Sotiropoulos may want to mix things up by using his superior boxing to establish a pace that he favors. Expect Rafael to shoot for an early take down since he probably prefers his ground game. But G- Sot is sure to be expecting that strategy and he’ll want to use his jab to keep dos Anjos outside the pocket and maintain control of the ring. Sotiropoulos knows that dos Anjos is a game opponent and he will be looking to test the previously injured jaw to settle down the Brazilian’s aggression. George Sotiropoulos is a smart fighter and although confident in his ground game he knows it’s important to respect the skill of a fellow jui jitsu black belt. He probably will take the fight to the ground at some point but if the positions are not in place for a submission he’ll take it back to the feet quickly. G- Sot is the more well rounded fighter who will use all his skills to out strike and if need be out grapple dos Anjos. In the end expect George Sotiropoulos to grind out a unanimous decision victory.
