Lauzon derails Guillard at UFC 136 with first round submission

Melvin Guillard was on a roll. The often troubled, yet immensely talented lightweight had finally got his personal life on track, and his professional career mirrored those successes. Guillard had won five straight bouts in the UFC, and appeared to be one win away from a possible shot at lightweight gold coming in against Joe Lauzon at UFC 136.

In 47 seconds, all of that changed. Guillard, who had a huge advantage in the stand up department coming in, promised a knockout in the bout, but it was a counter left hook from Lauzon that changed the outcome of the bout. Guillard came out swinging, but was caught with the left hand that had him reeling.

Lauzon capitalized on the strength of his game, latching onto the back of Guillard (29-9-2 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and forcing the tap with a tight rear naked choke.

“I definitely think he was overlooking the whole entire thing,” Lauzon said after the fight. “He was looking past me. But I like being in that position. I hope everyone overlooks me like that.”

Despite the huge win, Lauzon (21-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) quickly dismissed it as the biggest victory of his career, giving that honor instead to his stunning UFC debut victory over MMA legend Jens Pulver. That victory also took less than a minute, coming in only 48 seconds.

The quick submission victory also netted Lauzon $75,000 and “Submission of the Night” honors which is his ninth such award in his career. That number places him second all time in the UFC for fight-night bonuses behind only Chris Lytle who retired from the UFC with 10 awards.