Australia's George Sotiropoulos believes it is only a matter of time before the Victorian Government lifts its ban on the UFC.

The Geelong native, who has emerged as one of the great young talents in the UFC stable and is on the verge of earning a title shot, said he was was optimistic that the UFC would make its debut in Melbourne in the next couple of years.

The previous Labor Government, under Sports Minister James Merlino, banned UFC because it felt cage fighting did not 'accord with community standards', even though the New South Wales Government had sanctioned an event in Sydney early in 2010.

But, in an interview SEN radio earlier this week, Sotiropolous said he was hopeful that attitude in his home state would change.

"I am sure the UFC will be allowed to stage events in Victoria in the near future. It is a minor technicality at the moment and once that is fixed it will be fine," he said.

"We had an event in Sydney earlier this year which was a great success. So I'm sure once the finer details are cleared up we will be in Melbourne with an event."

Sotiropoulos was quick to clarify that it was not the sport itself that is banned but the cage that the fights take place in.

"MMA isn't banned at all in Victoria; it is the cage that seems to be the problem at the moment,'' he said. ''There are other mixed martial arts events and promotions operating in Victoria that fight in a boxing ring instead of a cage.

"Hopefully the government can look past this misconception that the cage is bad and start to sanction UFC events in Victoria."

Sotiropoulos fought on the main card at UFC 110, which was held in Sydney at the start of this year, and will also fight at UFC 127 at Acer Arena in February next year.

It has been suggested that if Sotiropoulos defeats his next opponent, Germany's Dennis Siver, at UFC 127 he will be given a title shot.

The Australian said, however, he was not concerned about whether his efforts inside the Octagon were rewarded with a title fight.

"I'm not too concerned about that right now. I am just happy that I am still undefeated in the UFC and that I'm getting payed to fight in the best mixed martial arts promotion in the world," he said.

"Dennis is a tough guy who is an extremely well-rounded fighter; he has good stand up, good wrestling and is very good with submissions."

Since entering the UFC in 2007, Sotiropoulos has amassed a record of 7-0, with four of those victories coming via submission. This year the Australian has continued his good run with three victories in nine months.

"I've had three fights this year with very good results. In each fight I have improved and with each win I have climbed the ranks and I feel like it's paying off," he said.

Sotirpoulos said that he is looking forward to coming back to Australia after beating Joe Stevenson in front of his home crowd in Sydney in February.

"I can't wait to come back,'' he said. ''The Australian crowd was overwhelming, they were so supportive. They were bought up to speed about the sport really quickly through watching it on TV and pay per view. They were well aware and understood all the details on the ground."

"Most people understand striking. If someone throws a punch they see it land and there is a direct reaction. But with grappling there are a lot of details that the untrained eye won't see. When I was pulling off sweeps and passes from the guard or utilising the rubber guard the crowd were going wild. They knew what was going on.

"The Australian crowd know their stuff, it was great to have that support. It was so loud it was the equivalent of a European soccer match. The crowd was going wild and it was great."

Although Sotiropoulos has a black belt in jiu-jitsu, he trains extensively in boxing, wrestling and muay-thai, the same four disciplines that he practised in his amateur career.

"By the time I began fighting in mixed martial arts I was a complete fighter,'' he said. ''There were no amateur ranks in Australia so I competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments, submission grappling competitions, wrestling and amateur boxing. Therefore I had an extensive background in all of those sports before my first MMA fight."