Joe Lauzon (born May 22, 1984) is a semi-retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC's Lightweight division. Described as a well-rounded fighter, he has the most post-fight bonus awards in UFC Lightweight history with 15. Joe's younger brother, Dan Lauzon, is also a mixed martial artist.[2][3]
Lauzon's first amateur fight was in 2002. He held a 5–3 record as an amateur.[4]
In 2004, Lauzon had his first cage fight, winning with a first round armbar in a local Massachusetts promotion, Mass Destruction.[6] Lauzon then went on an eight fight winning streak with all the fights ending via submission. Lauzon won an eight-man tournament, defeating three fighters in one night in the World Fighting League and was crowned the WFL Grand Prix Champion.[4] Lauzon was also named 2004 Massachusetts fighter of the year by local Massachusetts MMA outlets.[7]
Lauzon made his debut in the UFC upsetting former UFC Lightweight ChampionJens Pulver at UFC 63 on September 23, 2006, winning via KO in 48 seconds and beating 7-to-1 odds. He was awarded a Knockout of the Night award.
Lauzon has been sponsored throughout his career by independent record label Massachusetts-based Deathwish Inc.[8]
The Ultimate Fighter
Lauzon was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 5, which featured lightweights exclusively. He was on B.J. Penn's team, against a team coached by Jens Pulver. Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty in the preliminary round. He then defeated Cole Miller in the quarterfinals. The win was somewhat controversial due to an illegal strike to the back of Miller's head. Miller appeared obviously dazed by the illegal strike and was given time to recover.[9] However, when action was restarted, it was clear that Cole was still feeling the effects of the strike. Lauzon capitalized on it and won the fight.[10] In the semi-finals, Lauzon lost a unanimous decision to Manvel Gamburyan. At the finale, he defeated Brandon Melendez via submission (triangle choke) at 2:09 of round two.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
At UFC 78 Lauzon submitted previously undefeated Jason Reinhardt by rear-naked choke in the first round.[11] Lauzon quickly took Reinhardt down before moving to the north–south position. Reinhardt rolled, giving Lauzon his back, and Lauzon quickly sunk in the rear-naked choke for a quick submission victory.[12]
On April 2, 2008, Kenny Florian defeated Lauzon in the main event of UFC Fight Night 13 by TKO via strikes from mount in the second round.[13] The first round was back and forth as Florian opened up a cut on Lauzon's head with elbows and took his back while Lauzon landed several takedowns and attempted several submissions. Florian opened the second round with a takedown and soon advanced to mount where he landed multiple unanswered strikes until the fight was waved off.[14]
Lauzon defeated Kyle Bradley by technical knockout in round two at UFC Fight Night 15 on September 17, 2008. In the first round Bradley connected with a punch and rocked Lauzon. Lauzon managed to recover and continued to trade with Bradley in a close first round. In the second round Lauzon scored a takedown and transitioned quickly into mount before taking Bradley's back. Lauzon landed several punches from this position until the referee stepped in to save Bradley.[15]
Lauzon was scheduled to fight former WEC Lightweight Champion, Hermes Franca on February 7, 2009, in the main event for UFC Fight Night 17.[16] However, Franca pulled out of the event with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.[17]Jeremy Stephens stepped in as a late replacement.[18] Lauzon defeated Stephens by armbar in the second round, which earned him a Submission of the Night bonus award.[19][20]
Lauzon fought Sam Stout on January 2, 2010, at UFC 108 and lost in a very entertaining fight by decision, which also won Fight of the Night bonus award.[21][22][23]
Lauzon was expected to face Terry Etim on August 28, 2010, at UFC 118, but Etim had to withdraw from the bout due to injury. Lauzon was instead set to fight fellow Ultimate Fighter season 5 castmate Gabe Ruediger.[24] During the UFC 118 weigh-ins Ruediger brought Lauzon a cake that read "Sorry for your loss". Lauzon defeated Ruediger, who is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, via armbar in 2:01 of round one having completely dominated him for the entire fight. The submission earned him a Submission of the Night award.[25] According to commentator Joe Rogan, Gabe "was never in it for a second."
Lauzon faced George Sotiropoulos on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123.[26] The fight began with an action-packed first round, that saw Lauzon set the pace. However, by the end of the round, Lauzon began to tire and saw Sotiropoulos began to gain momentum. The second round saw a fatigued and passive Joe Lauzon. After a scramble, Sotiropoulous ended up on top position and torqued a kimura to force the tap-out.[27] Both fighters earned a Fight of the Night bonus award.[28]
Lauzon faced Curt Warburton on June 26 at UFC on Versus 4.[29] Lauzon defeated Warburton via first round kimura, which earned him a Submission of the Night bonus award.[30]
Lauzon faced Anthony Pettis on February 26, 2012, at UFC 144[35] He lost the fight by KO due to a head kick in 91 seconds.[36]
Lauzon was again expected to face Terry Etim on August 4, 2012, at UFC on Fox 4.[37] However, Etim was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Jamie Varner.[38] In a back-and-forth fight that saw both men rocked, Lauzon secured the victory after locking in a triangle choke on Varner at 2:44 of the third round. His performance earned him the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night honors[39] and a Fight of the Year nomination at the World MMA Awards.[40]
Lauzon was expected to face Gray Maynard on December 29, 2012, at UFC 155.[41] However, Maynard pulled out of the bout citing a knee injury and was replaced by Jim Miller.[42] Miller defeated Lauzon via unanimous decision. The back and forth action earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.[43]
Lauzon faced Michael Chiesa on September 5, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 50.[48] After a back and forth fight, Lauzon defeated Chiesa via TKO in the second round after opening a significant cut above Chiesa's right eye, forcing a doctor's stoppage.[49] The performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.[50]
Lauzon was expected to face Diego Sanchez on November 15, 2014, at UFC 180, replacing an injured Norman Parke.[51] However, on October 23, it was announced that injuries to both Sanchez and Lauzon led to the pairing being scrapped altogether.[52]
Lauzon next faced Al Iaquinta on January 31, 2015, at UFC 183.[53] Lauzon lost the fight via TKO in the second round.[54]
As the first bout of his new eight-fight contract, Lauzon faced Takanori Gomi on July 25, 2015, at UFC on Fox 16.[55][56] After successfully taking Gomi down, he won the fight via TKO in the first round.[57]
Lauzon faced Diego Sanchez on July 9, 2016, at UFC 200.[60] He won the fight via TKO in the first round, becoming the first man to finish Sanchez by strikes.[61] The win earned him his first Performance of the Night bonus award.[62]
After sustaining virtually no damage during his previous fight, Lauzon was quickly rescheduled to rematch Jim Miller on August 27, 2016, at UFC on Fox 21.[63] Lauzon lost the rematch by split decision.[64] Both participants were awarded a Fight of the Night bonus.[65]
Lauzon next faced Marcin Held on January 15, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 103.[66] He was awarded a controversial split decision victory, even stating he felt he lost the bout post-fight.[67] Likewise, 16 out of 17 media pundits scored the bout for Held; the lone holdout scored the fight a draw.[68]
As the first bout of his new four-fight contract, Lauzon faced Chris Gruetzemacher on April 7, 2018, at UFC 223.[73][74] He lost this fight after his corner stopped the fight after the second round.[75]
After an 18-month hiatus, Lauzon faced Jonathan Pearce on October 18, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 6.[76] He won the fight via technical knockout in round one.[77]
After another 31-month hiatus, Lauzon was scheduled to face Donald Cerrone on April 30, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 208.[78] The bout was moved to May 7, 2022, at UFC 274 for undisclosed reasons.[79] Despite both competitors weighing in, the bout was cancelled the day of the event due to Cerrone falling ill.[80] The pair was rescheduled to meet at UFC on ESPN 37 on June 18, 2022.[81] The bout was yet again scrapped the day of this event due to Lauzon's knee dislocating and being unable to straighten.[82]
Lauzon announced that he is semi-retired, saying he wouldn’t come back unless there was something highly intriguing for him.[83]
Lauzon is married to Katie, and they have two sons. His eldest was diagnosed with stage 4S neuroblastoma a week after he was born, and was finally cleared as cancer-free in early 2019.[89]
Lauzon's moniker, 'J-Lau', was given by his friends whom he trained with when he was in high school. Lauzon did not fancy his nickname, as it is a reference to Jennifer Lopez, and would prefer his nickname to be 'Baby Joe' instead.[90]
