K.J. Noons, George Sotiropoulos Get Light Heavyweight Bout At UFC 166
K.J. Noons is set to fight George Sotiropoulos in a light heavyweight match at UFC 166 in October.
Noons (11-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) made his UFC debut against Donald Cerrone at UFC 160 on May 25. The 30-year-ld dropped the bout by unanimous decision, marking his third consecutive loss since March 3, 2012, when he was defeated by Josh Thomson — also by unanimous decision — at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in a title eliminator match. Noons’ last win was on December 17, 2011, when he beat Billy Evangelista by — say it with us — unanimous decision at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal.
Noons has gone 1-5 in his last six fights, with two being title eliminators and another being a welterweight championship fight against Nick Diaz.
Australian-born Sotiropoulos (14-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is also coming off of a three-fight losing streak dating back to February 27, 2011, when he lost to Dennis Siver by unanimous decision. Prior to that, Sotiropolous racked up a three-year, eight-fight win streak going back to 2007, when he fought his first and only match in Spirit MC, a now-defunct South Korean MMA promotion. He took home Fight of the Night honors in his victories against Joe Stevenson and Joe Lauzon at UFC 110 and UFC 123, respectively.
Sotiropolous previously coached Team Australia in The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes. He faced Ross Pearson during the season finale on December 15, 2012, but lost the fight by TKO in the third round.
Noons and Sotiropoulos join a card that now includes:
- Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos – main event, heavyweight championship match
- Daniel Cormier vs. Roy Nelson – co-main event, heavyweight
- Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shawn Jordan
- Hector Lombard vs. Nate Marquardt
- Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez
- Tim Boetsch vs. Luke Rockhold
- K.J. Noons vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Tony Ferguson vs. Mike Rio
UFC 166 will place take place on October 19 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
What do you think of the match between K.J. Noons and George Sotiropoulos?
[Pictured: K.J. Noons]
