At 5-0 in the UFC and 12-2 overall, including an impressive unanimous decision victory over Joe Stevenson at UFC 110, Australia’s George Sotiropoulos is well on his way to the upper echelon of the UFC’s lightweight division.
Standing in his way is the tough UFC veteran Kurt Pellegrino. The two will throwdown on the main card of UFC 116, with both men looking to push themselves into title contention with a win.
George took some time out to speak with us, and give us the lowdown on how he trained for the fight, the similarities he sees in Pellegrino and Stevenson, and how he feels about his career’s progression.
BumpyKnuckle.com: How did camp go this time around? Are you still training in Washington?
George Sotiropoulos: Yes I’m still in Washington; that’s my permanent residence now. Everything worked really well for me. My boxing has improved and my grappling has improved and I’ve been working with Eddie Bravo on that. Every aspect of my game has improved; I have a really good team.
BumpyKnuckle.com: Did you have a good time in Australia after your fight?
George: Yeah, I spent about a week there after the event with family and doing some boxing and eating good food and relaxing. I had a great time.
BumpyKnuckle.com: Has anything changed for you after that big win over Joe Stevenson?
George: I just think that fight gave me more notoriety and people took a little more notice. For me nothings really changed, I’m still the same guy. I’ve gotten better and improved and things are coming along.
BumpyKnuckle.com: Kurt Pellegrino seems very similar to Joe Stevenson. What differences do you see?
George: Yeah, they’re almost identical. Their grappling and wrestling is almost identical. Physically, I think Stevenson is the more powerful of the two and Pellegrino is more agile and faster. I think Stevenson has more aggressive boxing.
BumpyKnuckle.com: What are some of the things you do, at your level, to increase your grappling? How do you continue getting better?
George: I just continue learning. I’m always looking to learn new techniques. I could be learning for the rest of my life in this sport, and especially with jiu-jitsu there are so many techniques. If you think you’ve learned it all I think you’re basically settling for less.
BumpyKnuckle.com: Are you happy with choosing to fight for a living and how your career has progressed? Has it been a struggle?
George: First and foremost I love training and I love fighting, that’s why I chose to do this. It wasn’t even a career decision, I basically decided I wanted to train and fight and money wasn’t even a part of it.
There’s been many struggles. It was a struggle in Australia before I got here. There wasn’t much money in it and I had to teach to make a living. I lived in Japan for a year and I was just training and fighting and I was really secluded and then I got injured, and I took about a 14 month hiatus from fighting. But even then I was very motivated, getting up before dawn going to physical therapy and going to the gym. I was always motivated.
There’s always a risk. It’s just life. In life there are struggles with any job, look at the people in the gulf who lost jobs and are facing life changing obstacles. So, of course there are struggles but if you persevere and believe in yourself and what you’re doing you can succeed.
BumpyKnuckle.com: You’ve got to be fairly happy with how things have gone for you thus far.
George: Yeah, I’m content with where things are. I’m content but not resting cause I have a goal and everything is step-by-step. I’m not looking past that next step. I’m content in that sense, but again I love the training and I get to travel and train and improve. For people who love martial arts that’s what most of them want and I’m living that.
BumpyKnuckle.com: Being that you spent some time on The Ultimate Fighter, would you recommend trying to get on the show to someone else? In your experience, was there any negatives at all?
George: I honestly can’t see any negatives. I did it then and enjoyed it and can honestly say I would do it again. I was already living that lifestyle before I got in the house. I was training two times a day already so I just continued doing what I already did.
If that lifestyle is a change for you, then you’re not really training to be a fighter. If you’re not training all the time then you’re not giving it your best shot.
BumpyKnuckle.com: When getting ready to come out on such a big stage on a card of this magnitude, what’s it like for you when your entrance music comes on and you’re walking out in front of all those people? Are you aware of your surroundings or are you too focused to even think about that?
George: I’m pretty focused at that point. It’s pretty much the same for each fight. I would say at that point it’s all focus.
BumpyKnuckle.com: When do you know that you’re next and you’re supposed to come out?
George: The UFC is very well organized and very professionally run. They’ll give you a heads-up and they got you on cue to come out. All the behind-the-scenes is set and organized and there’s a routine that they follow and it’s very professional.
BumpyKnuckle.com: Anything you’d like to add?
George: I want to thank my boxing trainer Leonard Gabriel at Fisticuffs Boxing in Vancouver, Washington. I want to thank Eddie Bravo at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu in Hollywood, California. Also, Eric Jetton for helping me with my wrestling and Michael Chapman and Armand Debruge at Impact Jiu-Jitsu.
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