Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Apparently I wasn't the only person impressed with George Sotiropoulos' last few performances inside the octagon. MMA Junkie is reporting that Dana White has confirmed the former TUF alum is right in the mix for the lightweight title. With his win Saturday night at UFC 116 over Kurt Pellegrino, Sotiropoulos is riding a six fight win streak since joining the promotion in late 2007. After submission victories over George Roop and Jason Dent, his profile absolutely exploded after his dominating performance over Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson at UFC 110.
"I'm impressed with him," White said. "I was blown away with his Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson fight, and he looked incredible [at UFC 116] against a guy I have a lot of respect for, too. Kurt Pellegrino is awesome.
"[Sotiropoulos] is right there. He's fought his way into the mix. No doubt about it."
This could actually be a pretty intriguing fight for BJ Penn...er, I mean Frankie Edgar. I like George, but I think there's still a ways to go before getting into that top five of the lightweight division. The winner of Florian/Maynard is likely the next challenger to the title, but guys like Evan Dunham, and even Jim Miller to an extent, are probably still a bit further up the food chain than Sotiropoulos. Another win here or there against a top flight fighter and I have no problem putting him into that mix. I would love to see how his style matches up against someone like Florian or Penn. Can he hang with the big boys?
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