Fitch vs. Penn, Siver vs. Sotiropolous booked for UFC 127

[pumpt73]

source: www.mmajunkie.com


AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – With Saturday's UFC 123 event in the books, UFC president Dana White is already busy determining his promotion's 2011 plans.

With that in mind, the UFC boss on Saturday night announced a pair of additions for the company's return to Australia, UFC 127.

A resurgent B.J. Penn, who needed just 21 seconds to dispatch of Matt Hughes, meets perennial contender Jon Fitch, and UFC 123 winner George Sotiropoulos gets his wish and fights in his homeland against German contender Dennis Siver.

While not yet officially announced by the promotion, UFC 127 is expected to take place Feb. 27 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Fitch had been expected to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126 in February, but White said he'll now find a new opponent for Ellenberger.

While Penn (16-7-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) is best known for his exploits as a lightweight fighter, he is also a former champion of the 170-pound division. At UFC 123, Penn returned to the class for the first time since a January 2009 loss to Georges St-Pierre and stunned rival Matt Hughes with a 21-second knockout that earned the Hawaiian the evening's "Knockout of the Night."

Fitch (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) enters the contest on the strength of a five-fight win streak in the octagon and with 21 wins in his past 22 fights overall. Nevertheless, Fitch has dealt with much criticism for his fighting style and has admittedly often lacked fan support in his bid for the UFC welterweight title. A win over Penn would certainly change that.

Siver (17-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) recently picked up a key win over Andre Winner at UFC 122, and the German lightweight also scored the evening's "Submission of the Night." While Siver opened his UFC career just 1-3, he's bounced back with six wins in seven fights, a run that includes a 5-1 mark in the octagon.

Prior to his UFC 123 win over Joe Lauzon, the Australian-born Sotiropoulos (14-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) made little effort to hide his desire to fight in his native land. At Saturday's event, the grappling ace put the controversy around his sometimes-excessive fightwear and forced Lauzon to submit in the evening's "Fight of the Night." Now undefeated in seven trips to the cage, a win over Siver would unquestionably put the Eddie Bravo disciple in line for a title shot.

 

[TombstoneCity1387]

I am NOT a fan of BJ Penn by any stretch (as Pumpt will tell any of you), but I have to say he impressed the hell out of me with his destruction of Matt Hughes. Before this fight, I was saying that Penn was on his way out, that he didn't have it left in him after being beaten by Frankie Edgar twice in a row. Well fuck-all if I wasn't DEAD wrong! I definitely think that this will be an excellent test for Jon Fitch. Should be an awesome fight.

Sotiropoulos vs. Siver I think is going to go pretty much the same way as Sotiropoulos vs. Pellegrino went. George is going to use his range to pepper Siver until he makes a mistake, then it's game over.

 

[pumpt73]

Both fights really intrigue me. Fitch is a control freak and I see him having a little tougher chin than Hughes did. This win really should rejuvinate BJ. What's funny is Penn has only won 2 fights at 170 and both come against Hughes. Fitch is going to come in super hungry as I would think if he wins he's going to draw the winner of GSP vs. Kos. Siver vs. Sotiropolous is one I really want to see. Siver has shown steady improvement and had some good wins coming against Spencer Fisher and Andre Winner. However, I think this is a major step up for him with Georgie. George has all the makings of a future champion. He gets by Siver, I want to se him in a title fight with the winner of Edgar and Maynard.

UPDATE source: www.mmajunkie.com

Sotiropolous out indefinitely with medical suspension!!!

Main-card fighter George Sotiropoulos and preliminary-card competitor Mike Lullo both must be cleared by a physician before returning to competition.

A commission official today confirmed the list with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Sotiropoulos submitted Joe Lauzon in a featured main-card bout. However, he took a poke to the eye in the fight and briefly was sent to the hospital after the show. However, in the night's post-fight press conference – though his left eye was a bit bloodshot – he said no permanent damage was done and that he expected no problems with it.

In fact, UFC president Dana White confirmed his next fight: a February matchup with fellow lightweight Dennis Siver at February's UFC 127 event. The show takes place in Sotiropoulos' native Australia.

 

[straight_edge76]

Fitch/Penn should be a great fight, like you said the win against Hughes really rejuvinated BJ and gives him some much needed momentum to fight someone the calibur of Fitch. I think this fight more than the Hughes fight can do a lot to decide if BJ can hang with the much bigger guys he will be facing at Welterweight. As evident in the Hughes fight BJ was much smaller than the guys he will be facing and it would be interesting to see how he will take to a fight against a younger, hungrier in my eyes atleast fighter.