Pellegrino versus Morango. Photo: Josh Hedges
Winning 10 of his last 16 MMA outings by submission, Kurt Pellegrino gave further proof his Jiu-Jitsu is up to par when he submitted black belt Fabricio Morango with a rear-naked choke at UFC 111. To many Gentle Art lovers, mainly for the way he won the bout, it was a surprise.
Speaking of surprises, Pellegrino’s next opponent is George Sotiropoulos. For those who don’t remember, Sotiropoulos is the Australian who put on a Jiu-Jitsu clinic in beating favored to win Joe Stevenson at UFC 110.
To keep his ground game up to speed and win his fifth fight in a row for the promotion, only July 3 in Las Vegas, Pellegrino headed for New York, where he will do his prep work with Jiu-Jitsu world champion Marcelo Garcia. The two have faced off before in the past, in the quarterfinals of the 2007 ADCC.
“He was a good grappler, but he took me down, took my back and choked me. With him I’ll be the best prepared guy in the world,” he told MMAJunkie.com, with the certainty he will tap out at least a thousand times to Garcia.
Nevertheless, the lightweight won’t skip training with his old training partners Keith and Kenny Florian.
Curious about the Pellegrino vs Marclinho match? Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyzepuQAOa0