Issue 047
March 2009
Lightweight contender Joe Lauzon shot to fame at UFC 63 when he defied the odds by blowing away the grizzled veteran Jens Pulver in under a minute.
Where are you at the moment?
I’m in Las Vegas right now, cornering for Shane Nelson. I’m in Las Vegas for a few days then I’m heading back to my hometown, Boston.
What do you remember from your first MMA fight?
My very first fight, I was actually in the main event. It was nothing to do with me; the guy I was fighting at the time had a traditional karate school or something, so I was fighting him. I tried to take him down, but I shot from way too far away. I got hit with an uppercut. He dropped me, put me on my butt, then I got back up to my feet, took him down and caught him in a leglock. It was ugly, I definitely wasn’t ready to fight – it was a really eye-opening experience.
What’s the toughest fight you’ve ever had?
The Kenny Florian fight was pretty tough because there was so much going on. It was the first time I had been in the main event on such a big show and been in Colorado, at such high elevation. I don’t normally get jitters; I don’t get nervous. For that fight I did because I had everybody, including Dana White, asking me ‘Are you nervous?’ Nothing, from start to finish, really went my way. It was just one thing after another. I just couldn’t get going.
How do you think your last fight with Kyle Bradley went?
The fight went pretty well. I knew that Kyle was more of a boxer than anything, he had jiu-jitsu too, but I figured he’d want to box most of the time. The first round was pretty much a boxing match, but about a minute-and-a-half into the second round, I took him down and my grappling just took over. I took his back and pounded him out.
What’s the hardest punch you have ever landed on someone?
One of the best punches I’ve ever landed was on Jens Pulver. I wouldn’t say it was the hardest, but it was probably the best punch. I really don’t think I could have hit him any better on the chin. Years before I fought Jens, we had Jeremy Horn up to do a seminar. He was basically telling us that Jens has some of the best boxing he had ever seen in MMA, but he’s scared to death of being put on his back whenever he lets his hands go. So, fast forward a couple of years, that was the thing that stuck out for me the most. I knew as soon as I started changing levels that he was going to start defending the takedown. So I faked my shot and he sprawled, I threw a right knee and then a left hook. The punch just slipped through, it was something we had done a thousand times in training.
Joe Lauzon spoke with Jim Page
