UFC 108 Preview: With Knee Repaired, Joe Lauzon Seeks Impressive Return Versus Sam Stout

One of the more intriguing, less talked about fights on the UFC 108 main card is the lightweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 contestant Joe Lauzon (18-4, 5-1 UFC) and long-time UFC veteran and TKO veteran Sam Stout (14-5-1, 3-4 UFC). Lauzon is coming off two straight finishes over Jeremy Stephens and Kyle Bradley at UFN 17 and UFN 15 respectively while Stout won an unanimous decision Fight of the Night bout against Matt Wiman at UFC 97.

The most intriguing portion of this fight will take place on the feet as Stout is known for his solid punching ability and his overall grit in the Octagon. He's been involved in three Fight of the Night performances over the course of his UFC career, two of those being against Spencer Fisher at UFC 58 and UFN 10. Lauzon won't be at a disadvantage against Stout's striking in this battle, but Stout does have the skill to create some problems for Lauzon if he can land consistently.

The major disparity between the two fighters is most noticeable in the ground game. Lauzon is mostly known by casual fans for his stint on The Ultimate Fighter, but many long-time UFC fans will remember his knockout win over Jens Pulver as his calling card. Casual fans might be surprised to learn that most of Lauzon's victories before his win over Pulver were won by his submission skills, twelve of his first sixteen bouts ended in that fashion. Joe has shown even more improvement in that ability with some impressive jiu-jitsu skills in the Octagon, especially in his performance against Jeremy Stephens.

Lauzon was sidelined in March following his win over Stephens due to a prolonged injury to his meniscus in his right knee that eventually had to be repaired with ACL surgery. This will be his first fight back following the rehabilitation of the knee. The extensive recovery period could hinder Lauzon's performance as ring rust and some problems with his knee in regards to his jiu-jitsu could come into play.

From all indications, Joe Lauzon should be 100% to go for this fight. His stand-up is solid enough to exchange with Stout and hurt him, but I think his ground game is the obvious answer to finishing this fight quickly. Stout has the outside chance of catching Joe sleeping, but I think this is easily Joe's fight to win. I'll take Lauzon via submission here.