After Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard finally meet for a third time, it's anyone's guess who'll be standing next in the line for a title shot in the UFC's lightweight division.
It's seems like each time someone is on the verge of locking up No. 1 contender status they flop in their next fight. It just happened to Anthony Pettis at "The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale," and George Sotiropoulos felt that same sting against Denis Siver back at UFC 127.
Sotiropoulos (14-3, 7-1 UFC) is back this weekend and isn't too down about his loss to Siver. He wasn't blown out in the fight, plus the UFC is also very high on Siver's game. Aussie knows he can get right in line behind the champ and challenger with a few good performances.
"The contenders ... it's a big mess in there right now," Sotiropoulos told RawVegas.tv. "The guys who are up there, a lot of us, have lost recently. I think a lot of us are still up there, but it's just changed the timing of everything."
Sotiropoulous admitted he just wasn't on his game that night.
"It's never the same. You always want to be at a certain point. I've always noticed something is always a little different in every fight, whether it's good or bad," Sotiropoulos said. "You've gotta roll through it, and move through it and press on regardless."
Sotiropoulos may have been a little off because of the short time between his fight at UFC 127 and his previous tilt as UFC 123, just 13 weeks earlier.
The challenges this time around is game planning for an opponent change. Sotiropoulos is facing Rafael dos Anjos (14-5, 3-3 UFC), who replaced Evan Dunham in early May. Both are good grapplers, but Dunham is a guy who works behind a nice jab while dos Anjos throws his punches like a wild man.
Sotiropoulos is a minus-270 favorite over the Brazilian.
You can watch UFC 132 right here on Yahoo! Sports
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