Full circle: Joe Lauzon UFC Fight Night 15 exclusive interview

One of the more low-key fighters in the UFC’s talent-packed 155 pound division, Joe Lauzon, boasts a 16-4 record and is 3-1 inside the Octagon — his only loss for the promotion coming from perennial contender, Kenny Florian (10-3).

Tonight Lauzon will try to get back to his winning ways when he faces Kyle Bradley (13-5), who is coming off a loss of his own in his UFC debut against Chris Lytle back in February.

Tonight’s card, UFC Fight Night 15, features a main event of Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer, as well as another intriguing lightweight matchup between Clay Guida and Mac Danzig. It kicks off at 8:00 p.m. on Spike TV from the Omaha Civic Auditorium.

We recently caught up with Lauzon to talk about his plans for tonight’s fight, his future as a fighter and now gym owner, and his initially overprotective but super-supportive parents.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): With your first fight in the UFC, you defeated Jens Pulver (back at UFC 63 in September 2006). After a victory over a big name opponent, why not just keep fighting instead of going on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF)?

Joe Lauzon: I didn’t want to have the option of doing it and (then) not do it. If I hadn’t done the show, I’d be kicking myself in the ass for not doing the show. It was a great opportunity for exposure, big experience … (I) got hooked up with BJ. I got to go to Hawaii and train as a result, and none of that would have happened if I hadn’t done the show.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): What is your plan for Kyle Bradley?

Joe Lauzon: Basically take him down and beat him up. He has good boxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. But I feel my wrestling and jiu-jitsu are better.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): There have been fighters in the past who have great ground skills, but it seems like they get caught up in the "fighter A wins if they stand up" hype. Do you worry about getting caught up in that?

Joe Lauzon: If a guy isn’t so good on the ground, I am definitely going to try to put the fight there. If I have to do a little bit of stand up to get it there, that’s okay too. It’s not like I am scared of getting hit or scared to throw a punch.

I understand that people can game plan that a good strategy would be to completely try to shut down my ground game, but I am not too worried about that. Pulver was going to try to do that, and I turned the tables on him, ya know, and upset everyone.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): You kept your "normal" job for a while into fighting, correct?

Joe Lauzon: Yeah, plus senior projects and finals that were like two weeks before the fight. I have seen all these other guys just dive into full-time fighting, and it kinda warps you a little. They’re like, "I have to win this fight," where in the beginning, if I had a couple of bad fights, I didn’t have to worry about it because it was something I was doing for fun.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): You started at 145 pounds, correct?

Joe Lauzon: No, I started at 155, but in Massachusetts it’s same-day weigh-ins. I was walking around at 150 and didn’t want to cut weight so I would fight at 155. I had a couple of fights at 145 and didn’t like the way I felt.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): So you would rather not have to cut as much weight but be the fresher fighter?

Joe Lauzon: Yeah, I like where I am at right now. I probably am about 12 – 13 (pounds) over, but I will lose a pound or two this evening, a couple in my sleep, and I’ll be fine tomorrow. I make weight pretty easy.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): I am from New York City; you’re from Boston. We have the biggest and best sports rivalry around.

Joe Lauzon: (smirking) Yep.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): Is it like that with the schools for the smaller shows?

Joe Lauzon: There are always rivalries between the schools, but I have seen cars get windows smashed and flipped because they have a Yankee bumper sticker on them. It is not that bad — a lighter version, I guess.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): With the Florian fight, what do you think was the biggest factor?

Joe Lauzon: I think the altitude had a big thing to do with it. Nothing went my way from the start, (but) the altitude didn’t help. I got the takedown, get fouled and then I lose my takedown. I work for something, he fouls me, and I get it taken away. And because I got cut, in between rounds they have me bent over looking at the back of my head, instead of me sitting upright to catch my breath.

But at the end of day, Kenny is really good, too. I had to have everything going my way, be stronger and not have those little setbacks.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): So is that a rematch you would like to see?

Joe Lauzon: Absolutely. At sea level.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): I saw that you bought into the gym where you train.

Joe Lauzon: It’s the gym I started at when I was 17. I learned how to do my first armbar there, first triangle, I learned how to do everything there. I was throwing around the idea of starting my own school, and I talked to Joe Pomfret, my trainer, and he said, "Just come in and I’ll make you a partner here."

It ended up working out way better. I already knew the expenses, and how everything breaks down. From there we changed the name of the school. He never really did much marketing because it was always secondary for him — he’s a seventh grade school teacher. For him it was something fun to do. We’re looking at more marketing and advertising now.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): Do you have a long-term plan or a timeline for fighting, I mean in regards to a title shot?

Joe Lauzon: I don’t have a timeline. I love having a gym. I’ve basically run the MMA program at the gym for about five years now. I love seeing my guys do well. I don’t even care about my fights in comparison to theirs. I am so much happier about one of my local guys winning an amateur fight than one of my fights.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): You mentioned your dad as your hero.

Joe Lauzon: Yeah but my whole family is awesome. Really ideal parents. You here about broken homes, my family is the exact opposite — really close, always there for each other.

My dad is not the smartest when it comes to book smarts, but when it comes to figuring out things, (he’s) the best. We built an Octagon from scratch, went to Home Depot, picked up a couple things and built it. I think it is way better than a Throwdown cage or Ringside or whatever. And he did it all from scratch.

Mike McColgan (MMAmania.com): How did your parents feel about MMA?

Joe Lauzon: In the beginning they didn’t want me to do it — even just starting regular jiu-jitsu. They were kinda like, "You’re gonna get a broken neck." Once they saw it was something I really wanted to do, they were behind me one hundred percent. My dad drove me six hours to go to a grappling tournament in New Jersey. I think my dad has only missed two fights in all the years. My mom might have missed a couple more, but they have been there for all of it.

To learn more about Joe Lauzon visit www.joelauzon.com.

Mike McColgan is a former mixed martial arts fighter out of Omaha, Neb., and an aspiring professional photographer.