In a sport overflowing with tatted-up, Affliction T-shirt-wearing, muscle-bound maniacs, it’s almost comical to see someone like UFC 144’s Joe Lauzon step into the cage. Some would probably even laugh at the idea that he is a professional fighter if they didn’t already know it.
One look at him and it should come as no surprise that Lauzon has spent much of his fighting career labeled as a decisive underdog.
Unlike many of his opponents who could double as actors on “Sons of Anarchy” or “The Wire,” Lauzon looks more like the guy down the street who runs a computer repair business out of his parents’ basement.
But behind that dorky disguise is an absolute force in the Octagon. A fighter who has not only derailed the hype trains of numerous top UFC lightweights, but one who is now set on making a name for himself as more than just a spoiler.
At UFC 144, Joe Lauzon has an opportunity to take that next step. His fight against Anthony Pettis is not only a way to stop another top challenger, it’s also a way to force the fans and UFC matchmakers to finally recognize him as the top-level competitor that he is.
On the surface, the styles of these two lightweights could not be more polar opposite from one another.
Anthony Pettis will undoubtedly go down in history for his unbelievable “Showtime kick” on Benson Henderson on the final WEC event. His kung fu movie-like striking has made him a rising star among both casual and hardcore fans.
Meanwhile Joe Lauzon has gone the opposite route, quietly flying under the radar largely due to his humble attitude toward the fight game.
It’s not that Lauzon hasn’t been great in the Octagon. In fact, he has put together an impressive resume that rivals that of practically anyone in the weight class. The recipient of eight separate UFC “fight/knockout/submission of the night” bonuses, Lauzon could be argued as the most consistently entertaining fighter in the sport today.
His road through the UFC lightweight division hasn’t always been smooth sailing, though. In fact, it has been littered with doubters, particularly when it comes to his standup game.
They said he shouldn’t stand with Jens Pulver. They said he shouldn’t stand with Melvin Guillard. But like a hero without fear, Lauzon stood up and smashed both men on the feet with relative ease, using his superior fight intellect to find the perfect opening to exploit.
Now comes Anthony Pettis, perhaps the most dangerous and unpredictable striker in the UFC today. Like Guillard and Pulver before him, Pettis sits as a significant favorite in betting lines to walk out with a victory over Lauzon at UFC 144.
But as he has done so many times in the past, Joe Lauzon will embrace his role as the underdog. He’ll come in with an excellent gameplan as he always does and he won’t give Anthony Pettis any breathing room. In fact, he has practically admitted that he will be trying to do exactly what he did against Pulver and Guillard, by smashing Pettis early in the fight.
“I’m sure his gameplan is going to be to kind of ride out the pressure, pace in the first, and then take it to me in the second,” Lauzon told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “But a lot of other guys have had that same gameplan and I’ve still overwhelmed them in the first.”
A former WEC lightweight champion, Pettis is certainly capable of doing what Pulver and Guillard were unable to do by getting a victory over “J-Lau.” But if he doesn’t pick up on the mistakes that Lauzon’s prior opponents have made, it could be a very short night, with Pettis looking up at the lights and wondering, “What happened?”
Joe Lauzon might not look the part, but so long as the odds-makers continue to doubt him, he’s going to keep costing them truckloads of money as he walks out of the cage with his hand raised time and time again.
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