Issue 178

Joe Lauzon’s death or glory style has produced many a nail-biting moment for his supporters, but when it comes to delivering exciting fights and cashing bonus checks; there’s simply no one quite like ‘J-Lau.’

The UFC and Fox partnership had produced some stellar encounters leading up to August 4th, but the scatter-gun distribution of these cards over various subsidiary networks arguably diluted the desired effect. The organization badly needed an explosive main card on Fox from top to bottom and, when the cameras started rolling for UFC: Vera vs Shogun in Los Angeles, that’s exactly what they got.

Lauzon’s record as a serial bonus hunter speaks for itself, but, in Jamie Varner, he was up against a fighter who’d taken this challenge on short notice and, like his previous fight with Edson Barboza, had everything to gain and little to lose. 

The first two rounds saw breathtaking exchanges in all ranges with the heavy hands of Varner serving as a suitable riposte to the trademark rugged grappling of his dangerous foe. Neither man relented for 10 breakneck minutes, but as Lauzon walked to his corner he wasn’t thinking about the scorecards, despite the nip and tuck nature of the contest.

“I thought I definitely had the second round but generally I’m not trying to win rounds, I’m trying to win a fight,” Lauzon recalls. “Going into the third round I wasn’t thinking I’m going to win this round and win the fight; I’m going in to every round thinking I’m going to finish this guy. If there was 10 seconds left in the third and I was coasting to a decision I’d still jump for a submission.”

Lauzon was actually behind on two of the scorecards, but his level of aggression didn’t dip as he pushed the pace in the third only to be taken down. Varner had switched up his game, too, due to a broken hand suffered in the second, but a technically beautiful butterfly sweep from Lauzon soon had his opponent scrambling for position.

Varner leapt forward but Lauzon instinctively jumped into a triangle and began working for the submission. He adds: “The sweep was something we specifically worked on but that triangle is something I do in the gym all the time. It’s second nature, I didn’t even think about it. There was a scramble so I jumped on it and next thing I know I’ve got him in position.”  

Varner instinctively began to retreat and looked, for a split second, to have a shot at freedom, but Lauzon measured a few telling elbows which soon had his foe’s attention. “I jumped into the triangle but it wasn’t very deep at first. He was 100% going to get out but I knew how to slow him down. He wasn’t deep enough to choke but I knew I had him locked in there so I needed to do something to get him back in. I threw the elbows and he had no option but to push forward because he couldn’t pull back. It forced him deeper into the triangle and I was able to get the tap.”

The crowd erupted as Lauzon secured the victory and his efforts were duly rewarded as he pocketed both the ‘Submission’ and ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses, putting him top of the all-time table with an almost-unbelievable tally of 11 awards and checks. 

The Boston native had once again stolen the show with his fearless approach and, more importantly for the UFC, lit the blue touch paper on a truly incredible night of fights. Lauzon finishes: “Come fight time I’m not afraid to lose, I’m not afraid to go for something. I obviously want to win but I want to finish people, I don’t want to win decisions. If I lose a round because I went for a chance to win the fight and finish, I can live with that.”

As of November 2019 J-Lau has a 28-15 win-loss record and is tied second with Nate Diaz for the second most post-fight bonus awards in UFC history, behind Donald Cerrone.