UFC 127 Fight Card Preview: George Sotiropoulos Vs Dennis Siver
If George Sotiropoulos can come out of tonight's fight with an impressive victory over Dennis Siver I see no reason why he shouldn't be discussed in the title picture. The lightweight division is influx right now with both BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez moving to welterweight and Kenny Florian dropping to 145lbs. These shifts give Sotiropoulos a great chance to move up in a less-crowded division. More guys have recently joined due to the WEC merger, but I wouldn't put many ahead of Sots on the depth chart.
Siver is going to have a tough time tonight if he can’t keep this fight standing. The man is an elite striker, but may be one of the least well-rounded fighters in the UFC’s lightweight division. His recent submission win over Andrew Winner doesn’t really make me think he could hang on the ground with someone like Sotiropoulos. Siver should be looking to land his famous spinning back kick, but he may hesitate out of fear of being taken down. Sotiropoulos also employs a boxing style that is hard to load up on. He keeps his hands up well and doesn’t get too sloppy during exchanges.
Sotiropoulos has stream-rolled some of the divisions best grapplers in three straight fights. It will be interesting to see how he approaches someone like Siver, but I’m betting Sotiropoulos tries to get this fight to the mat right from the get go. I think he’ll succeed and end it there.
