Sotiropoulos opens UFC 106 with armbar victory

Jason Dent was able to hang during season nine of "The Ultimate Fighter" and reach the semifinals but this was a whole different animal he was facing in the opening bout of UFC 106. George Sotiropoulos (pictured on top) is a high level grappler. After some spirited stand-up for much of the first round, the Australian took the fight to the ground and it was clear Dent was in big trouble. He was mounted with 53 seconds left in the first. Dent survived but found himself in the same position with 1:30 left in the second. Sotiropoulos worked for an armbar and finally freed Dent's arm with 28 seconds left. Referee Yves Lavigne stopped it immediately giving Sotiropoulos the win at 4:36 of the second.

"I showed my ground game a lot and that's what people expect from me, so I wanted to show my standup a bit," said Sotiropoulos. "But I let the fight take the natural course, and it eventually got there."

He was slick on the ground in setting up the finish:

"I went for the arm crush and I was holding the leg but he defended so I let go of the leg and went for the arm and got it."

Dent (19-10, 1-3 UFC) deserves another shot in the UFC. His standup was pretty solid and he walked through a few big shots from Sotiropoulos. In the second round, he actually dropped his hands and implored Sotiropoulos to fight. Sotiropoulos (11-2, 4-0 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card at 5-to-1.

CAMOES ILLEGAL KICKS COST HIM A WIN AGAINST UNO 

A momentary lapse cost Fabricio Camoes his shot at opening his UFC career with a win. Camoes threw a few kicks from his back as Uno sat up on his knees in full guard with four minutes left in the second round. Referee Mario Yamasaki took away a point and that ultimately turned the fight into a majority draw 29-27 (Uno), 28-28, 28-28.

"I understand the game, they took a point there," said Camoes. "I was making my debut against a legend and I'm happy with my performance. I try to evolve in every aspect of the fight game."

Cagewriter had it 29-27 for Camoes (10-4-1, 0-0-1 UFC). The judges blew it overvalueing Uno's takedowns. The veteran fighter scored a takedown in each round but that was only after getting smashed repeatedly on the feet. All you had to do was look at the fighter's faces after the fight to see who won the fight. It was actually the second draw of Uno's UFC career. He scored a draw back at UFC 41 against B.J. Penn.

Related Videos:

• Sotiropoulos climbs up the 155 ladder, downing Pellegrino
• TUF 6’s original favorite re-emerges: Sotiropoulos upsets Stevenson
• Sotiropoulos is back: The Aussie nearly rips off Roop’s arm
• Pellegrino dominates his way to a submission victory at UFC 111
• The Ultimate Fighter recap: ‘Yeah, I suck my thumb every once in a while, but that’s it’