(Image: GeorgeSotiropoulis.tv)

The date is nearing for the UFC’s first trek to Australia - which is scheduled for Feb 20th, 2010 at The Acer Arena in Sydney.  With a main event between Heavyweight veteran Minotauro Nogueira and up and comer Cain Velasquez, this road trip is a calculated move by the UFC and part of their focused plan to expand their viewership and overall fanbase into a truly global market.

It generally pays to be a fighter in the expansion country or city, as the UFC likes to bring in some hometown boys to keep the fans, who may have less exposure to the UFC and MMA in general, interested and with a fighter to root for.  This event is no exception, with former Ultimate Fighter contestant and Australian native, George Sotiropoulis stepping up in the biggest fight of his career against former top contender, Joe Stevenson.

Sotiropoulis is currently riding a 4 fight win streak in the UFC, making his way into the organization following a semi final loss to finalist, Tommy Speer.  With two wins at Welterweight (Billy Miles, Roman Mitichyan), Sotiropoulis suffered an injury training for his third fight (against Karo Parisyan) and after almost a year and a half away from the Octagon, returned to compete as a lightweight.  

After rattling off 2 impressive wins at 155lbs, (George Roop, Jason Dent) the UFC is clearly seeing the potential in the 32 year old Australian and have granted him the opportunity to shine against the fan favorite, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson.

Other Australian fighters scheduled for the card include veteran fighter Elvis Sinosic (1-6 UFC)facing off against fellow Aussie Chris Haseman (0-1 UFC).  James Te Huna will also compete in an undercard match against Igor Pokrajac.

While the UFC has kept with the tradition of bringing some hometown heroes to the event, they certainly aren’t leaving the event in their hands and are bringing a number of tried and tested fighters to make the card really solid.  This event should be a great introduction to the UFC for existing fans as well as the countless new ones that the UFC hopes to attract.

Full Fight card is listed below:

 Main Card:
Heavyweight Bout:  Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs.  Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout:  Wanderlei Silva vs.  Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout:  Joe Stevenson vs.  George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout:  Keith Jardine vs.  Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout:  Mirko Filipovic vs.  Ben Rothwell

Preliminary Card
Light Heavyweight bout:  Elvis Sinosic vs.  Chris Haseman
Light Heavyweight Bout:  Stephan Bonnar vs.  Krzysztof Soszynski
Welterweight Bout:  Chris Lytle vs.  Brian Foster
Middleweight Bout:  C.B. Dollaway vs.  Goran Reljic
Light Heavyweight Bout:  James Te-Huna vs.  Igor Pokrajac