Press Release:
E. BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (September 15, 2008) – UFC lightweight contender Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon broke from his native Massachusetts training camp Saturday and headed for Nebraska, where he fights Kyle Bradley (13-5) on Wednesday night (September 17) in UFC Fight Night 15, live from Omaha on Spike TV.
“Training camp was very, very good,” Lauzon said. “This summer, I built a cage in my school (Lauzon MMA), and I’m happy with the way things went. I worked harder for this fight than any other. When I was training with BJ Penn in Hawaii, it was a little tougher to coordinate training partners whereas back home I had 6 to 8 guys jumping up to help every training session. It’s always easier to round up your own guys in your own gym. Training with BJ was great, but for this fight my entire gym was more focused on me in camp than ever before.”
The 24-year-old Lauzon (16-4, 3 KOs, 13 submissions), star of The Ultimate Fighter 5 television reality show, earned a Bachelor’s degree in computer networking from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist, Lauzon’s most notable victory to date was in his UFC debut (September 23, 2006 in UFC 63) when, as a 7-1 underdog, Joe surprisingly stopped former UFC champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver (21-7-1) at 43 seconds of the opening round, marking Pulver’s first UFC loss in eight fights.
Although relatively new to the UFC, the 26-year-old Bradley has been a professional MMA fighter for more than five years. “I’m ready for him,” Lauzon remarked. “I know he’s trained by Rich Clemente, of Louisiana, so I know he’s good in Jui-Jitsu and kickboxing. My boxing has improved a lot to the point I’m confident fighting on my feet. I’d still rather be on the ground but now I’m comfortable fighting all around.”
Lauzon is coming off a disappointing loss by second-round TKO to fellow Bay State fighter Kenny Florian last April 2 in the main event on UFC Fight Night 13 in Denver. “It’s all about maturity,” Joe concluded. “From that fight I learned that I need to pace myself better and not think that I have to go all out from bell to bell. Up until the last fight, I was continually progressing and moving up the ranks. The Florian loss set me back, but now I’m going to get momentum going my way again.”
For more information about Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon, go online to www.joelauzon.com or myspace.com/lauzonrsd.