UFC 127 Results: Did Dennis Siver Just Become a Contender?
Unquestionably, the easiest fight for experts to boil down on last night's UFC 127 card went the opposite of how most had expected it to go.
Then again, few could have expected that George Sotiropoulos would actually not be able to take Dennis Siver to the ground at all.
For stand-up, the fight seemed even before Siver dropped Sotiropoulos twice in the middle of the second round, though one could argue that Siver landed the more effective shots before dropping Sotiropoulos.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
The two notable times Sotiropoulos went for a takedown, he missed his shot to get Siver down in one format or another.
The first time, Siver dodged the takedown, and the second time saw Siver shove the Aussie standout off.
For whatever reason, Sotiropoulos looked like a different Sotiropoulos than he'd looked in his previous bouts.
Was it because he'd never faced a dangerous kickboxer like Siver before?
Was it the pressure of possibly getting a crack at the winner of the UFC 130 lightweight title bout?
Was Siver merely the better fighter?
Who knows—the bottom line is that Siver walked out of Acer Arena with the decision over the hometown boy.
Whether this makes him a contender or not is very much in debate, as Sotiropoulos is the first real test that Siver's passed.
Is Siver a contender?
Probably not, considering he's won bonuses but only against guys like Spencer Fisher and Andre Winner, who are very entertaining in their own right, but who some feel "aren't a big deal."
If he's not a contender though, the time is now to say that perhaps Siver is a dark horse.
He won a fight that many could've seen him winning but few predicted him winning.
If he puts on performances like the one he put on last night, he could be the unlikeliest "first pick" of an opponent with a legitimate chance of dethroning Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
