In a surprising lightweight result in Sydney, Dennis Siver won a unanimous decision over Australia's own George Sotiropoulos at UFC 127.It was a very good fight that Siver won on the judges' scorcards by scores of 29-28, 30-28 and 30-27, improving his professional record to 18-7. Sotiropoulos falls to 14-3, and snaps an eight-fight winning streak.
"It was a hard, hard fight, but I could (follow) my game plan, and that's why I won," the German Siver said afterward, through his translator. "We trained so much every day."
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After an exchange of strikes for a couple minutes, Sotiropoulos caught a Siver kick and tried to take Siver to the ground. Bus Siver did a great job of hopping around on one foot while Sotiropoulos held his other foot, and eventually Sotiropoulos let go without Siver ever hitting the floor. It was a great display of takdeown defense and balance by Siver.
When Siver wouldn't go down, it seemed to frustrate Sotiropoulos, and then Siver came through with some powerful punches, knocking Sotiropoulos down twice. Sotiropoulos was dazed and wobbly, and it looked like Siver was going to put him away, but Sotiropoulos managed to survive the round.
In the second round Siver did a great job of using his striking to create separation between the two of them, and Sotiropoulos had trouble getting close enough to go for a takedown. And when Sotiropoulos did go for a takedown, Siver just shrugged him off. In the final minute Sotiropoulos finally started to take control as Siver looked like he was fading, but I gave the second round to Siver.
The third round was a back-and-forth battle in which both men landed plenty of shots, although Siver's seemed more powerful. Sotiropoulos attempted several takedowns but never got the fight to the ground. When the third round ended neither fighter seemed to have a feeling for whether he had won. But all three judges agreed it was Siver's fight. I thought so, too. It was a great showing for Siver, who followed the perfect game plan.
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