New Interview with Joe Lauzon

Full Interview

Joe Lauzon Interview

An interview with UFC Lightweight Joe Lauzon

 

Joe Lauzon, one of the most popular lightweight fighters in the UFC, recently took some time out of his schedule to conduct an interview with ProFighting-fans.com. Lauzon is currently in the process of rehabbing an ACL injury that required surgery last month. He gives us his thoughts on everything from his recovery to the long overdue arrival of the UFC in Boston.

 

SK: Give us your thoughts on the Jeremy Stephens Fight.

JL: It was a good fight, but I controlled the takedowns. I got it on the ground. You know, I don’t think I was ever in a bad position really. He hit me a couple times in the second round, but you know in the first round, I definitely think I won the round.

 

SK: You were cut in the second round against Stephens, as you alluded to. Do you think that could have influenced the judges had the bout made it all three rounds?

JL: Well, anytime you cut a guy, that’s definitely a bonus for you. But I don’t think the cut was in a bad spot, you know. It was actually in a really good spot.

If you’re going to get cut, the top of the head is as good a place as any. So I was never really concerned with it, and I was never really planning on letting it go to the judges anyway.

 

SK: Yeah, you’ve never gone to the judges, have you?

JL: No, not as a pro. I had a couple as an amateur when I first started out, but as a pro I’ve never had a single fight go to the judges.

I’m always trying to win, but I’m not trying to win every particular round. I’m trying to win the whole fight. I’m trying to end the fight.

 

SK: Obviously you’re out with an injury right now. Could you give a little bit of a history on the injury? As I understand it, it wasn’t really one specific event that led to it, but rather the result of accumulated damage.

JL: Yeah. Well, training in general puts a lot of abuse on your body, and on my left knee I had my meniscus trimmed down a couple years ago, then I did it again on my right knee this time.

When they went in on the meniscus they said, ‘Have you been having any problems with your ACL?’ and I said, ‘No.” They said that they thought it was torn, but I never had a problem with it. Not once did my knee ever give out. Nothing like that, which is what happens with a typical ACL injury. They said that I’d probably have to get ACL surgery at some point … and then I’d have to deal with the recovery.

They said an ACL is kind of like a bee’s next, you know; if it’s not bothering you, don’t mess with it.

SK: Better to get it done when you’re young though, right?

Yeah, exactly.

So we left it alone, and then in the fight with Jeremy, I must have messed it up then. All of the fights I come out of, I’m pretty sore. I don’t feel it so much when I’m fighting, but afterwards I feel like I’m 65. So my knee was sore but I didn’t think anything of it. I figured it was from one of the takedowns, or that I got hit with a kick or something.

I tried to train like a week after the fight because I had stitches in my head, and just when I’m warming up, my leg locks up on me. It seemed like a meniscus injury that I had suffered in the past, but with those I could always force it [the leg] and get it going, but this time I couldn’t get it going at all.

So, I went to the ER, they put me unconscious and they basically forced my knee straight. All kinds of popping from what I’m told. So, they went in and they gave me a cadaver ACL and they repaired my meniscus. I guess the tear was huge. In the past they had just been able to trim it [the meniscus] down, but since the tear was so big, they couldn’t.

 

SK: How is your recovery going? I read in an MMAWeekly article that you said you thought it was ahead of schedule. Do you still believe that to be the case?

JL: I think that just because I’m used to training and I’m used to being uncomfortable that I’m a little bit ahead of the curve. With the range of motion, I think I’m pretty stranded right now. I can stretch it but I can’t overdo it. So I’m pretty much on with that, but as far as stability and stuff like that, I think I’m ahead of the curve. I’ve always healed pretty quickly.

 

SK: Is there anything positive coming out of your injury? I see you’ve been blogging a lot and you’re known sort of as a techy among your fans, so is that helping you keep up with your fans a little more?

JL: (Laughing) Yeah, it’s definitely given me some downtime to focus on other things. I red-did my Web site to make it better, which is something I’ve wanted to do for over a year. I was able to put a lot more time into my school.

Everything else kind of has to take a back seat when you’re training double sessions. It was a much needed break. I think I’ve had about 30 fights now in about six years, so I was definitely due for a break.

 

SK: I want to change the subject a little bit to the upcoming title fight between Kenny Florian and BJ Penn in August. I just wanted to know—obviously you fought Kenny Florian before and you’ve trained with BJ Penn—so, does that change your perspective on the fight as far as who you’ll be rooting for?

Not really.

Kenny is a hometown guy, you know. If he were fighting anyone else I would be supporting him, but BJ was my coach on The Ultimate Fighter; he was the reason I went there and then I went to Hawaii to train with him, so I’m definitely pulling for BJ. I’m probably not that popular around here for doing that, and I hope the best for Florian, but I’m pulling for BJ, definitely.

 

SK: Well, I was going to ask about that. Florian and yourself are obviously representing the Boston area in the UFC. Is there any sort of rivalry between you because of that or is it more of a camaraderie?

JL: There is a little bit, you know what I mean. I really don’t have anything bad to say about Kenny. I really don’t like his brother, at all. Like, not at all.

But I definitely don’t have any problems with Kenny. There’s a bit of a rivalry between his school and mine, but it’s a healthy rivalry.

 

SK: Just competition.

JL: Yeah, exactly. Obviously all of my guys want to beat up a Sityodtong guy because Kenny beat me, but it’s a good rivalry. I love Marc Dellagrotte. I’ve never trained with him, but he’s always been a super nice guy to me, you know—a really cool person.

 

SK: All right, I want to talk about getting MMA sanctioned in Massachusetts, because there have been all kinds of fliers around lately, like postcards in the mail around here with Kenny Florian and even yourself. Do you know what’s going on with that at this point?

JL: Last year, early Fall I was hearing that the UFC was trying to come to Boston. They really want to come but they’ve got to get the legislation to go through. They need the athletic commission. They won’t come here without an athletic commission.

SK: Just to clear it up for casual fans, what exactly does that mean? Does that mean the UFC can’t come here without sanctioning or they just won’t?

JL: It doesn’t mean that they can’t but it means that they won’t. If you’re going to hold fights somewhere then you want to have a sanctioning body. Basically, they oversee everything and they take responsibility for what happens. God forbid something bad happens, you know, someone was seriously injured, someone was killed—anything like that—it’s on the athletic commission.

They’re going to look out for the fighters’ best interests, but someone could accuse them of not doing that. The athletic commission is there to be unbiased, 100% fighter safety and everything else. So the UFC will not come without an athletic commission.

 

SK: Do you personally feel slighted at all by the mainstream sports audience because your sport is not officially recognized in your home state? Or do you think it’s sort of a formality at this point?

JL: It’s a formality.

The sport isn’t officially recognized, but there are MMA shows around here all the time. For a while the shows were being run by the boxing commission. At a certain point, the commission realized that they weren’t supposed to be overseeing that, so they took a step back. It’s kind of like walking on eggshells right now until we get sanctioning.

But I hear that legislation is going to happen. I hear that there is going to be some MMA commission, like a subset of the athletic commission. Everything at this point is speculation until its actually announced. But I’m hearing that there will be a commission and that the UFC should be here (Boston) in November.

 

SK: That’s good news. I wanted to ask you, do you think—with MMA getting all this mainstream exposure now—do you think it’s going to lose something, or do you think it’ll always maintain an identity all its own?

JL: I think the sport’s just going to keep on growing, I really do. The more exposure, the better. I don’t think it will be a long time before the UFC’s in Boston, then New York City and all over the place.

 

SK: Obviously fighting in Boston would be a big deal to people like you and your brother. If you had a choice to fight for the lightweight title, or to fight on the main card of a PPV in Boston, which would you choose?

JL: I mean, I think everyone would go with fighting for the title. I don’t know though, that’s a tough choice.

 

SK: Well, obviously both would happen at the same time; that would be the best situation.

JL: Yeah, I mean that would be a real tough choice. I would probably say fight for the title because I’m sure the UFC will come back to Boston. It might suck to miss the first show in Boston, but it’s going to be a regular thing. I really want to be here.

 

SK: When and against whom do you think you’ll be making your return or would you like to make your return?

JL: Before I heard about the Boston card, I was figuring like February or March [of 2010]. I was going to really take my time. Everyone has told me, don’t rush an ACL recovery.

 

SK: Yeah, you don’t want to end up like Shogun.

JL: Right.

If they’re coming to Boston, though, I really want to try and push it and be ready by November. But I won’t go and do it if I’m not ready. If I’m not where I need to be, I definitely wouldn’t do it. If they are coming to Boston, though, I definitely want to get on that card.

 

SK: Do you think it would be better for you to come back against sort of a top contender or a big name for your first fight back or do you think you want to kind of ease back into it with a lesser-known opponent?

JL: I would probably rather ease back into it, just because it’s my longest layoff ever since I started fighting. It’s definitely a long layoff for me, especially coming off of knee surgery, but I’m sure one or two fights down the line I’d be in a lot better shape.

 

SK: All right, well that’s all I’ve got for you right now, Joe. Thanks a lot for taking the time to speak with me; it was a big help.

JL: No problem, anytime.

 

 

By Steven T. Kelliher
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer

 

Photo courtesy of Joe Lauzon