Lauzon

By Kelsey Mowatt

Heading into UFC on FOX 9, Joe Lauzon was in unchartered waters, as for the first time in his pro career he was coming off consecutive defeats. Following his decision loss to Jim Miller last December, the aggressive fighter was outgunned by Michael Johnson in August, and dropped another bout by UD. So, did Lauzon feel extra pressure as he prepared to fight Mac Danzig on December 14th?

“Not a ton; you know what I mean?” Lauzon said recently while appearing on Full Contact Fighter Radio. “Joe Silva has always said you’ll always have a job here, so I never really felt like I was on the chopping block.”

Not only does Lauzon have a winning record in the UFC, but he’s tied with Anderson Silva for the most fight night bonuses in the promotion’s history (at 12). That’s the type of resume any matchmaker wants to keep around.

“At the same time, before this fight, that loss to Michael Johnson was completely embarrassing,” added Lauzon, while referring to his UFC Fight Night 26 defeat. “I wouldn’t want to have another fight go like that. It wasn’t like I was worried about whether the UFC was going to fire me or release me or whatever, I just had to get a win.”

Lauzon

At the end of the day, Lauzon utilized his wrestling and punishing top game to score a unanimous decision win over Danzig. With the victory, Lauzon’s record now stands at 23-9.

“It doesn’t have to do with anything else. You know it’s been like over a year since I’ve won, so it was bugging me a little bit,” furthered Lauzon, who prior to facing Miller, submitted Jamie Varner at UFC on FOX 4 in August, 2012. “I just put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself every fight anyways. Every fight is super important. It was in the back of my mind a tiny bit, but the main thing was that I wanted to go out there and get the win.”

On the flip side of this discussion is Danzig, who as a result of the the defeat, has lost three straight bouts and is just 1-4 in his last 5. Lauzon made it clear before they fought that he had the utmost respect for the former TUF winner, but fighting isn’t about doing your opponent any favors.

“For sure; it’s a dog eat, dog world, survival of the fittest,” said Lauzon, when asked if he had some mixed emotions about having to deliver Danzig another setback. “I’m sure Mac was doing his absolute best to try to beat me up, and me be the guy that has lost three in a row.”

“So, it sucks; I like Mac a lot,” Lauzon added. “Long before this fight we would text back and forth a little bit, about stuff, he’s really big into photography. I would never say Mac and I were super close but we definitely had a ton of respect for one another, and we’d pick each other’s brain about different things. It sucks; it sucks for anyone…any fight card, it doesn’t change. If there’s 10 fights with 20 fighters or so, half of those guys are going home losers.”

While Lauzon is understandably happy he picked up the win, it marked the first time the 29 year-old’s done so via the judge’s scorecards. That’s right, all 22 of Lauzon’s victories prior to defeating Danzig had come by submission or strikes.

“It was pretty cool but it had to go at some point,” said Lauzon, who also noted that his brother Dan had a 100% finishing rate until he decisioned John Gunderson at WSOF 3 in June. “So if it has to go, I guess it’s good it did against a guy like Mac, such a veteran, so good, and such a good guy.”