Bader and Sotiropoulos find themselves on the hot seat after UFC 132
What a difference a day makes. Ryan Bader and George Sotiropoulos entered UFC 132 looking to rebound as top contenders in their own respective divisions with seemingly cake matchups. Bader even asked for Tito Ortiz. Why not get back on track with a “warm up” test against one of yesterdays Champions. Woops.
Ryan Bader entered this holiday weekend coming off the first lost of his professional MMA career. That lose to the chosen one and now UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones was supposed to be merely just a road block for “Darth’ Bader, after all he was supposed to lose that fight. Following the win, Jones was fast tracked seconds after the fight to a title shot while if Bader would have pulled off the upset he might have gotten a hearty pat on the back and a high-five. The fight with the old washed up legend of the sport in Ortiz was to keep Bader at a cozy spot near the bottom of the top 10 in the division and kept him in the hunt.
Unfortunately for Bader, Tito had other plans. Ortiz did what even Jon Jones couldn’t do. He finished Bader twice before the 2 minute marker of the 1st Round. As Bader admitted in his post fight interview he woke up in Tito’s guillotine after being knocked out by the former Light Heavyweight Champions fist. The season 8 winner of the Ultimate Fighter now faces the harsh reality of being on the UFC chopping block and can ill afford another lose in his next fight.
A match up against another Top 15 ranked LHW coming off a loss in Matt Hamill or welcoming back Brandon Vera into the Octagon may be the best bet for Bader as he attempts to avoid being sent down to the minor leagues.
George Sotiropoulos took on Rafael dos Santos at UFC 132
After 7 straight wins in arguably the deepest division the UFC has to offer, George Sotiropoulos was knocking on the doorstep of the lightweight division. Instead we enter the 2nd half of 2011 with Sotiropoulos coming off two straight losses just five days away from his 34 birthday. In less than a year Sots has gone from potential Lightweight #1 contender to gatekeeper/facebook prelim status. Sotiropoulos must now avoid being KO’ed or subbed his next time out or fighting in the UFC let alone fighting for a title will just be a distant memory for the Aussie nomad.
A fight with Danny Downes, Aaron Riley or Curt Warburton would give Sotiropoulos a winnable fight he so needs. Maybe even a match-up with Shane Roller who was also knocked out at UFC 132.
These one time raising stars are now fighting for their UFC careers,proving you cannot take anything for granted in Mixed Martial Arts.
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