Brick City Boxing

E. BRIDGEWATER, Mass.– Tattoo-less Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon, coming off his impressive win against Jeremy Stephens, headlining the February 7th“UFC Fight Night 17” in Tampa, has positioned himself for a future UFC title run in the highly competitive lightweight division.

Lauzon (18-4, 5 KOs, 13 submissions), star of The Ultimate Fighter 5 television reality show, put on a classic Brazilian Jui-jitsu demonstration against Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens(14-4, 10 KOs, 2 submissions), who was a late replacement for injured Hermes Franca (20-7).

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After suffering a 7-inch cut on his hairline from an elbow, Lauzon used a “fireman’s carry” to take power striker Stephens to the mat, where Joe mounted Jeremy and locked in a submission by arm-bar at 4:43 into the second round. Lauzon earned “Submission of the Night” honors.

“The flying heel hook is a move MMA people don’t see a lot,” Lauzon described his somewhat unconventional leg-lock. “I did it 4-5 months ago and decided to do it again. This was a good fight for me to showcase what I like to do in a UFC main event on Spike. I knew he (Stephens) was dangerous on his feet but not on the ground. My corner was upset with me at one point for getting caught with a few punches, but it wasn’t as bad as it looked, and I wasn’t hurt at all. Some thought I rushed for a submission after I got cut, but I stayed calm and I heard somebody in my corner yelling 45-seconds. I knew I had time for a submission, if I picked up the pace, and I did. He’s a tough, stocky kid.”

Lauzon is one of the few, if not the only MMA fighter without a single tattoo. In fact, he stands out from other fighters because he doesn’t have the customary “tats” all over his body. “Yeah,” Joe laughed, “I just can’t commit to anything. Some tattoos look good but most are terrible. Fighters either have 1 or 2, or all up and down their body. Maybe down the road, on a certain place, but right now I don’t have a desire to have something permanent on my body like a tattoo.”

The UFC lightweight division, from top to bottom, is loaded. Lauzon finds himself on the verge of cracking into a spot among the UFC’s elite 155-pound, chasing champion (and his former coach) B. J. Penn, former title-holder Sean Sherk and a rematch with Kenny Florian among the more notables. “I think the lightweight division, by far, is the toughest and deepest, talent- wise,” Lauzon commented. “A lot of those top guys are a solid 170-180 pounds, walking around, and lose weight to fight at 155. Someday I’d like a rematch with Kenny Florian, of course, and I want to fight Hermes, especially after all the trash he talked after pulling out of our fight. But he’s going to be out of action for a while with a torn ACL (knee injury). Next, I’d like somebody like Clay Guida (26-6), who just won a big fight against Nate Diaz (decision).”

For more information about Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon, who has a Bachelor’s degree in computer networking from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, go online and visit www.joelauzon.com or myspace.com/lauzonrsd.