Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca Still Feuding, Jeremy Stephens Fighting For Hermes at UFN 17

A classic he said/he said is swirling around the Joe Lauzon vs Jeremy Stephens headliner at this weekends UFN 17. Hermes Franca was originally slated to face Lauzon, got hurt, pulled out and they started spatting on the UG. Now Hermes still wants to face Lauzon, even after Stephens vs Lauzon. From MMA Junkie:

"(Jeremy Stephens) told me, 'Hermes, I want to win for you,'" said Franca, who will be in Tampa to be at Stephens' side. "He's ready, and he's hungry. It's going to be a good fight."

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"Joe is not going to take Jeremy down," Franca said. "I'm not saying Joe doesn't have a chance; he has a great chance, but Jeremy has a lot of power. He finishes people. You have to see him in sparring. It's like he's fighting for the title. He pushes hard."

Once he's cleared to return to the octagon, Franca would also like a chance at Lauzon. The two recently engaged in an exchange on the popular MMA forum, The Underground, that started as good-natured, but escalated into something personal when Franca criticized Joe's brother, Affliction fighter Dan Lauzon, on his most recent performance. Lauzon then poked fun at Franca's DUI arrest in November.

"I like Joe; I like the kid, and I like his style," Franca said. "But I'm pissed, and I can't wait to fight him. I'm mad and want to step in the cage and face him – and I want to fight him in Boston, his city. I want to make him feel bad over there."

For his part, Joe Lauzon wants to the fight too, from MMA Mania:

He's talking a lot of trash for someone who pulled out of the fight. He said he was looking forward to fighting me because he saw my brother fight and (Dan) sucks. My brother took three low blows in that fight, could have ended it by DQ but instead kept fighting and beat the kid anyway. Before I wanted to fight (Hermes) because I had a lot of respect for him. Now I want to fight him because he's acting like a punk.