1. George Sotiropoulos was born on 9 July 1977 and is an Australian former professional mixed martial artist who most notably fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in their Lightweight division.
31 Facts About George Sotiropoulos
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George Sotiropoulos is well known for appearing as a fighter on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra, fighting on Team Serra and as the coach for Team Australia on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes.
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George Sotiropoulos began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1997 at the age of 19, and was promoted to black belt in 2004.
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George Sotiropoulos has competed in amateur boxing, and in 2004, won a Victorian State Amateur Boxing Championship.
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George Sotiropoulos has remained affiliated with Enson Inoue's Purebred gyms throughout his career since then.
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George Sotiropoulos made his professional debut in 2004 against fellow Australian Gavin Murie, in which George Sotiropoulos was able to win via armbar submission in the first round.
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George Sotiropoulos went on to win two more fights until his first career loss via split decision to Kyle Noke in 2005, one year later he was able to avenge his first loss by defeating Noke by unanimous decision.
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George Sotiropoulos defeated Jared Rollins in the first round of the competition by KO.
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George Sotiropoulos went on to defeat Richie Hightower in the quarterfinals via submission due to a kimura.
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George Sotiropoulos was then defeated by Tom Speer in the semi-finals by knockout, shortly after an accidental thumb to the eye.
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George Sotiropoulos defeated Billy Miles at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra Finale via submission at 1:36 of the first round.
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George Sotiropoulos defeated Roman Mitichyan at UFC Fight Night 13 on 2 April 2008 by TKO in the second round.
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George Sotiropoulos was scheduled to fight judoka Karo Parisyan at UFC 87, however Sotiropoulos was forced to withdraw due to injury.
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George Sotiropoulos was then expected to face Matt Grice at UFC Fight Night 17, but was forced to withdraw due to another injury and was replaced by Matt Veach.
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George Sotiropoulos eventually forced the tap out with a kimura lock in the second round.
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George Sotiropoulos defeated Ultimate Fighter 9 alumni Jason Dent in the second round via armbar submission on 21 November 2009, at UFC 106.
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George Sotiropoulos' wish was granted and faced Joe Stevenson on 21 February 2010 at UFC 110.
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George Sotiropoulos fought Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 116 on 3 July 2010, and won by a commanding unanimous decision.
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George Sotiropoulos then faced Joe Lauzon on 20 November 2010 at UFC 123.
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George Sotiropoulos survived a fast start by his opponent, thus gassing Lauzon in one round, and allowing George Sotiropoulos to dominate the next round, winning by kimura in the second round in a bout that won Fight of the Night honors.
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George Sotiropoulos suffered his first UFC loss to Dennis Siver via unanimous decision at UFC 127.
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George Sotiropoulos was unable to take the fight to the ground and was forced to strike with the German Kickboxing Champion Siver.
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George Sotiropoulos was expected to face Evan Dunham on 2 July 2011 at UFC 132.
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George Sotiropoulos was knocked out just 59 seconds into the first round.
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George Sotiropoulos was expected to face former PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi on 26 February 2012 at UFC 144.
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However, George Sotiropoulos was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Eiji Mitsuoka.
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In July 2012 George Sotiropoulos was confirmed as the Australian coach for The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, and faced Ross Pearson on 15 December 2012 at the finale - UFC on FX 6.
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Pearson dominated him throughout the fight, and although he narrowly avoiding being knocked out several times, George Sotiropoulos was visibly rocked in all three rounds; being knocked down in two of them.
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George Sotiropoulos eventually lost the fight via third-round TKO from Pearson.
30.
On 22 January 2014 it was announced that George Sotiropoulos had signed a four-fight contract with Titan Fighting Championship and was expected to debut on 25 April at Titan FC 28 against Mike Ricci however Ricci withdrew from the bout due to injury.
31.
Almost a decade removed from his previous bout, George Sotiropoulos faced Josh Togo at HEX Fight Series 26 on 26 May 2023.