A lightweight bout between rising stars Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino and George Sotiropoulos has been added to the main card of UFC 116 in July. The featured fight was officially announced by the UFC earlier today and will propel the winner one step closer to title contention.
Pellegrino has reeled off four straight victories inside the Octagon against formidable competition, including a win over Josh “The Dentist” Neer last August. Sotiropoulos has not lost in over three and a half years and scored a win over one-time title challenger Joe “Daddy” Stevenson at UFC 110.
Pellegrino (16-4-0) has finished 12 of his opponents to date, with most victories coming by way of submission. Employing a wide variety of chokes, Pellegrino has found considerable success inside the Octagon and sports a 7-3-0 UFC record. Riding a four-fight winnning streak that includes the first and only stoppage of Rob Emerson and an impressive victory over Fabricio “Morango” Camoes in March, Pellegrino now finds himself on the brink of title contention in the stacked 155-pound division. A win over the surging Sotiropoulos would place Pellegrino on a short list of challengers.
Sotiropoulos (12-2-0) has quickly made a name for himself inside the UFC after debuting following a stint on season six of The Ultimate Fighter. The jiu-jitsu ace has finished all but one of his UFC opponents and is coming off of the huge victory over Stevenson at UFC 110 in his native Australia. Sotiropoulos dominated the ground battles with Stevenson and gained instant critical praise from observers. While he has not yet earned a title shot, a convincing victory over tough veteran Pellegrino could earn Sotiropoulos a future number one contender’s bout for a crack at UFC gold.
UFC 116: “Lesnar vs Carwin” takes place on July 3rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by a long-awaited UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.
UFC 116 Fight Card (to date; subject to change):
– Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin (UFC Heavyweight Championship bout)
– Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva
– Chris “Lights Out” Lytle vs Matt “The Immortal” Brown
– Krzysztof “The Polish Experiment” Soszynski vs “The American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar
– Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino vs George Sotiropoulos
– Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub vs Chris “The Crowbar” Tuchscherer
– Goran Reljic vs Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove
– Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann vs Paul “Tellys” Kelly
– Daniel “Ninja” Roberts vs Julio Paulino
– Jon Madsen vs Karlos “The Terminator” Vemola
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)