UFC 108 Preview: Dan Lauzon Makes UFC Return Against Veteran Cole Miller
by Leland Roling on Dec 31, 2009 12:41 PM EST
in MMA Events
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In the first of two preliminary bouts that will be aired live on Spike TV beginning at 9:00 PM EST from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, American Top Team-product and The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 contestant Cole Miller (15-4, 4-2 UFC) will battle current UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon's younger brother and one-fight UFC veteran Dan Lauzon (12-2, 0-1 UFC) in a lightweight tilt pitting Miller's extensive UFC experience against the hype surrounding Dan Lauzon's return to the Octagon.
Miller is entering this contest following a knockout loss against Efrain Escudero at UFC 103. He managed to string together two solid submission victories ahead of the fight with Escudero as he choked out both Junie Browning and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel, the latter win earning him a Submission of the Night bonus. Lauzon will try to extend his win streak to nine as his most recent win came against Bobby "Hood" Green at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, a bout that Lauzon received a lot of criticism over due to what some fans believe was a faked groin injury and a couple of moments of stalling.
Like many fights we've seen in past UFC events, both fighters in this contest have a much more skilled ground games than their striking skills on the feet. Miller has historically hinged on his submission ability to win him fights while Lauzon has modified his game from being strictly a submission grappler to having the ability to punch out opponents on the floor as well.
Interestingly enough, these types of match-ups can turn into pure slugfests due to the perception that the ground fight would become a pointless hugging war of reversals. Some of these perceptions are thrown out the window and some of the higher level grapplers do end up coming out on top over their perceived equal on the ground, but this might be a fight in which Cole Miller could take advantage in the striking department.
Miller will enjoy a slight reach advantage in this battle, and he'll also have the Muay Thai training out of American Top Team to sharpen up his stand-up, a skill that should come in handy against Lauzon. Bobby Green's strategy in Lauzon's last bout was to aggressively come after him with punches and knees in the clinch, and it worked effectively for most of the fight until the low blows came into play. Miller should try to take advantage of those weaknesses and avoid grappling with Lauzon despite having potentially superior skills on the floor as well.
I'll take Miller via unanimous decision here. He has the submission ability to be dangerous, but I think he'll find that his striking is better than Lauzon in most areas. He should be able to out point Lauzon on his way to victory.
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Joe has been talking about his brother's boxing recently
as a big advantage over Cole…I’m interested to see if it’s all just hype from J-Lau, or if he can put Cole away like Efrain did.
Yeah, I’ve stopped relying on the talk. It’s the sole reason I switched my pick to Volkmann over Thiago in the last picks post. I would have went nearly undefeated had I just listened to my gut and my own breakdowns of video.
Lauzon got trucked by both Fisher and Bobby Green in a similar fashion. The only difference was that Fisher’s takedown defense back then was truly awful whereas Green looked a bit stronger in his defense. Lauzon won’t have the opportunity to simply take it to the ground and win via submission here, and taking on subpar competition frequently won’t help either.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Dec 31, 2009 1:21 PM EST up reply actions
Trucked by Fisher and Green?
I didn’t just watch the video, but he did get kicked in the beans thrice and finished green. He didn’t eck out the dec because of the points or take the DQ win, he beat that ass. And he did had Fisher mounted at one point, he was doing well and that was like over two years ago.
Some people think I am a dumb, ugly human being, but really I am a beautiful ape, with exceptional verbal skills.
the first knee was legitimate, the second and third were not as ridiculous, but at that point d-lau had to at least feign injury, because those points deserved to be deducted. He didn’t look impressive at all in that win.
I’d like cole to win this because i’ve always liked him, but we would never see him at the top of the LW division. His chin isn’t solid enough, and his grappling isn’t a high enough quality yet. I don’t understand how he is in the UFC, and Cerrone is in the WEC. I feel like Cerrone would dominate lauzon, as would the other top LWs in the WEC. They need to have a slight mixup of the two.
by Austin Martin on Dec 31, 2009 2:12 PM EST up reply actions
Lauzon’s name is propped up by his brother and he is so young and dangerous that he really is a good fit for the UFC. Cerrone would be lost in the UFC LW div, but Lauzon stands out for other reasons. Cerrone is making a name for himself in the WEC and would be a favorite vs. Lauzon, but I might pick Lauzon as an upset.
Some people think I am a dumb, ugly human being, but really I am a beautiful ape, with exceptional verbal skills.
I’m not sold on Dan. He wades into reach too often and gets hit hard. His ground game is his most dangerous attribute, but Miller is very good on the floor. I think Dan can win in the striking game if he has improved.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Dec 31, 2009 3:01 PM EST up reply actions
i disagree. I think Cerrone’s style is very fan friendly, and i would take him against a lot of UFC lightweights. His problem is that he doesn’t try to expend energy resisting takedowns until the third round. He’s just a slow starter. He didn’t truly lose to Benderson or Varner (just my humble opinion).
And cole is like nate diaz. grapplers that need to be far to skinny to compete at 155. Nate should’ve lost to guillard. He’s tough, but can get outdecisioned in too many ways. they should be moved to the minor leagues
by Austin Martin on Dec 31, 2009 6:31 PM EST up reply actions
Fisher was getting pretty dominated, but the knees that Fisher landed later were crushing. Lauzon didn’t have the striking he has today however, so I suppose that’s a good counter-argument to my own.
Green, however, came out very solid. He threw some solid power within his own sloppy striking ability, and the knees he landed put some hurt on Lauzon.
I think Cole just has the overall better game than Dan. Unless Dan’s striking has vastly improved, I think Cole can win. I’m no messiah by any means, but this is how I break this fight down. Take it or leave it, I suppose. It’s just opinion.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Dec 31, 2009 3:01 PM EST up reply actions
And your opinion is a good one. I think Cole had Joe in there TUF fight until the back of the head blow made him loopy, but having fought Cole, Joe might have some tips for Dan. That and Dan is the upgrade after all.
Some people think I am a dumb, ugly human being, but really I am a beautiful ape, with exceptional verbal skills.
You could be right.
The problem with analysis of MMA fights is unless you are inside their camp and see the improvement, we can only go on past performances and the style match-ups.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Dec 31, 2009 3:45 PM EST up reply actions
From what I know about Dan, he will be really prepared or really not. He is, I think, more talented and explosive then Joe, but not as focused. Cole has fought more recently, twice since Dan’s last fight, and Cole has not been super impressive, while Lauzon’s fight with Green doesn’t say much to me in the way of greatness, it was a marked improvement in his overall game in that he didn’t rush. If you watch when he fights nobody’s, he rush’s in and is sloppy and looking to smoke the guy quick. I think it is key for him to pace himself. Cole can set a mean pace and I have my doubts about Dan’s ability to keep up, but him handling the Green adversity and turning it on late is what I was looking for from him.
If we are talking fight history and style, then Cole is a great pick. I see things as very close so I am going off of rate of improvement and potential. Its a close fight to be sure.
Some people think I am a dumb, ugly human being, but really I am a beautiful ape, with exceptional verbal skills.
The two high profile Dan Lauzon fights are his UFC debut against Spencer Fisher and his Affliction fight with Bobby Green.
I discount the takeaways from the Fisher fight simply because of age. Not everyone is a LeBron James man-beast, taking their sport by storm right out of high school. Stepping into the UFC at age 18 is pretty much crazy. Dan did well considering.
As for the Bobby Green fight: Lauzon was preparing to fight Chris Horodecki for both Affliction 2 and Affliction 3. Green was pulled in 2 days before the fight, nobody knows anything him. He comes out with wild unorthodox striking and then pops Dan with a series of shots to the nuts. I think whole situation just mentally overwhelmed Lauzon even though he pulled out the win.
Come Saturday night, while I don’t consider Lauzon a big favorite, I think we’ll see him stronger physically than we did against Spencer Fisher, and stronger and more experienced mentally than we did against Bobby Green. Ignoring the technical breakdown of the fight, I’ll side with Lauzon for the win.
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Eh, Bobby Green came out with a similar style to Horodecki in that he actually struck. Horodecki isn’t Muay Thai based really, and Green wasn’t really technical at all. But it was striking, and that’s what Lauzon should have expected.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Dec 31, 2009 9:51 PM EST up reply actions
Well, with Horodecki you are game-planning for a pretty traditional stand-up game. Whereas Green came out wild and crazy, going for broke. To your point, that alone is no excuse.
But I think Lauzon got caught off-guard, nervous, and was never in rhythm. I’ve watched the fight a few times and I think the circumstances just got the better of him. I suspect he’ll be more composed this weekend, and an improved version of what we’ve seen out of him to date.
That said, I think the article you wrote sums up the situation well.
www.tapology.com | twitter @tapology
Danny boy tried to train at Sityodtong before his last Affliction fight and left in the middle of a sparring session because he was getting worked. He gave up in the middle of a round, and left the ring. Dellagrotte opened his gym to Lauzon after all the BS Danny had with Sityodtong/Florian camp and he walks out in the middle of training. That tells me he’s not a motivated fighter. He has a great striking camp right in his backyard and he fails to take advantage of it. How do I know? I was there when he threw in the towel.
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