CHICAGO — Takanori Gomi didn’t seem inclined to tap, even as Joe Lauzon rained down brutal punches from the top. Herb Dean, for whatever reason, sat there watching Gomi while the uncontested punches rained down.
So Lauzon, who considered the former PRIDE lightweight champion one of his idols as he was breaking into the business, got up and walked away. Dean had a conversation with the woozy Gomi, then called the fight off, giving Lauzon a TKO victory at 2:53 of the opening round of their UFC on FOX 16 bout Saturday at United Center.
“He was completely unconscious, it was the right thing to do,” said Lauzon (25-10), who had his 24th career stoppage win. “I could have kept hitting him with punches, there was no point in it, the guy’s one of my heroes.”
Lauzon had walked right through a Gomi left to score the takedown, worked for several submissions, and finally mounted Gomi’s back, where he reeled off a string of uncontested punches.
“He’s legend of the sport, one of the guys I idolized in high school and college,” Lauzon said. “It’s kind of crappy beating on one of your heroes but that’s the way he did.”
Gomi (35-11, 1 NC), has dropped two straight and three out of four.