Joe Lauzon vs Jeremy Stephens booked for UFC Fight Night 17
by MMAmania.com on Jan 27, 2009 5:48 PM EST
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MMAmania.com can confirm that Jeremy Stephens will fill-in for the recently injured Hermes Franca and take on Joe Lauzon at UFC Fight Night 17 from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 7.
Franca and Lauzon were expected to tangle in the main event of the evening during the Spike TV special, which put the promotion in a pickle when Franca pulled up lame with a bum knee, exerting the pressure to find a worthy replacement on super short notice.
"Little Heathen" -- Franca's training partner -- to the rescue.
Stephens was expected to collide with The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 lightweight winner, Efrain Escudero (11-0), at UFC Fight Night 18 on April 1. He could still more than likely compete on that date if he escapes the bout against Lauzon relatively injury-free.
The Iowa product was most recently in action at UFC 91: "Couture vs. Lesnar" in November 2008, earning "Knockout of the Night" honors after sending Rafael dos Anjos back to Brazil with a thundering upper cut that he threw from what appeared to be the center of the cage.
It was among the most devastating finishes of 2008.
Stephens has five career fights inside the Octagon, winning three contests (Dos Anjos, Cole Miller and Diego Saraiva) and losing the others (Spencer Fisher and Din Thomas).
Lauzon rebounded from a recent loss -- a first for him inside the Octagon -- to stop Kyle Bradley via technical knockout (strikes) at UFC Fight Night 15 in September 2008. Prior to the win, he was one of the many recent victims of Kenny Florian courtesy of a second round technical knockout loss at UFC Fight Night 13 in April of that same year.
"J-Lau" was the favorite to win The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 season before meeting up with Manny Gamburyan in the semifinals. He has four wins in five attempts inside the Octagon.
To check out the latest UFC Fight Night 17 fight card and rumors click here.
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I had a vision this was going to happen! …
Im guessing its still the main event?
by Toad on Jan 27, 2009 5:50 PM EST reply actions
this is a weak main event… they should have fed him to sherk
by brendan on Jan 27, 2009 6:22 PM EST up reply actions
check out these stats:
number of strikes absorbed divided by the number of minutes fought. That gives you the number of strikes absorbed per minute of fighting, which we abbreviate as SApM. Here are some SApM figures for the five current UFC champions:
Anderson Silva: 0.71 SApM
Georges St. Pierre: 1.01 SApM
BJ Penn: 1.23 SApM
Rashad Evans: 1.39 SApM
Frank Mir: 2.7 SApM
Let’s wrap things up with two more fighters’ numbers:
Fedor Emelianenko: 0.59 SApM
Lyoto Machida: 0.64 SApM
These numbers are an average of a fighters total career fight!
-bloodyelbow
by john on Jan 27, 2009 6:47 PM EST up reply actions
FACT: These numbers show that the hardest fighters to hit in the HISTORY of mma are:
1)Fedor
2)Machida
3)Anderson
by john on Jan 27, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
That figure may be a bit scewed for Fedor considering he has 10 fights in Rings where you can’t hit a downed opponent, I’m just saying.
by Haze on Jan 27, 2009 6:57 PM EST up reply actions
Downed opponent? These stats are only talking about the stand up exchanges!
by john on Jan 27, 2009 6:59 PM EST up reply actions
No it’s not, it’s talking about strikes absorbed. And all I’m saying is that if it’s illegal to hit to the face while on the ground in rRngs Fedor’s stats are off.
by Haze on Jan 27, 2009 7:06 PM EST up reply actions
They could hit a downd opponet in Pride. They could even stomp on them. Wanderlei used to soccer kick guys in the head while they were down. Fedor, Manchida and Anderson are the top 3 guys in the world. Well Manchida will be in that list if he wins 2 more.
by hatteras on Jan 27, 2009 7:21 PM EST up reply actions
They could hit a downd opponet in Pride. They could even stomp on them. Wanderlei used to soccer kick guys in the head while they were down. Fedor, Manchida and Anderson are the top 3 guys in the world. Well Manchida will be in that list if he wins 2 more.
by hatteras on Jan 27, 2009 7:21 PM EST up reply actions
Really?!? They could hit a downed opponent in Pride, and even stomp on them!!! Holly cow that’s amazing!! Read my post again hatteras.
by Haze on Jan 27, 2009 7:28 PM EST up reply actions
The only reason BJ isnt on the top of that list is because of Hughes’ crucifix back at UFC 63. He absorbed about 60 or 70 of these little bitch slaps from Hughes. BJ is an elusive striker, almost as much as Machida.
by --utaptout--..."The Prodigy's" 4th Biggest Hugger on Jan 27, 2009 7:57 PM EST up reply actions
Awesome stats John…I wonder what Shammy’s rating is…lol.
by --utaptout--..."The Prodigy's" 4th Biggest Hugger on Jan 27, 2009 7:58 PM EST up reply actions
This to me is a better matchup to watch. Both are scrappy so it should be good. I’m thinking joe will probably sub him late, or pull off a decision. I like both of them but gotta stick with Lauzon.
by allamerican on Jan 27, 2009 5:55 PM EST reply actions
I totally agree. Joe CAN submit him. Stephens CAN knock him out. Both guys have great cardio and durability as well, so this could go to a decision. I really like this match. No pick on the winners.
by Synyster [[2009 Year of Gegard Mousasi]] on Jan 27, 2009 6:07 PM EST up reply actions
Told you so synyster! Im always on point, unless I say this is just a rumor….
I think its a very interesting fight and lil heathen has a shot against anyone with that KO power he has in his hands, but the big question is can he keep Joe from taking him down and G n P’ing him? NOt so sure! This is an awesome match up!
by john on Jan 27, 2009 6:43 PM EST up reply actions
I was just thinking of a BAD ASS match up that probably wont happen because the fighters are not in the same weight class. If one of these guys ever change weight classes, a match up that NEEDS to happen is:
Leanord Garcia vs. Lil Heathen! Tell me that isnt a WAR!
by john on Jan 27, 2009 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
thats a slight possibility…garcia fought at 155 in the UFC against Huerta…and did extremely well against him…that was a damn good fight, and one that helped huerta start to make a name for himself.
by --utaptout--..."The Prodigy's" 4th Biggest Hugger on Jan 27, 2009 8:00 PM EST up reply actions
yeah, but I think Garcia has found a home at 145 lbs where he is one of the best fighters in the world. At 155lbs he is just an average fighter!
by john on Jan 27, 2009 8:05 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah.. And Heathen is a pretty solid LW. And John, I think Stephens has very good defense on the ground. Spencer was unable to launch any effective gnp, and Dos Anjos had him in pretty tight spots, but he survived. Joe has better ground game than both those guys, but I think it will be close. Joe would be the favorite, I imagine, and Stephens has a great shot at pulling the upset!
by Synyster [[2009 Year of Gegard Mousasi]] on Jan 27, 2009 8:17 PM EST up reply actions
So I guess they need to find a new opponent for Efrain who was booked to fight stevens!
by john on Jan 28, 2009 11:09 AM EST up reply actions
much better fight. Stephens is tough and hits hard. Remember the popeye uppercut? great fight.
by hatteras on Jan 27, 2009 5:55 PM EST reply actions
they are really grasping at main events lately…
by brendan on Jan 27, 2009 5:59 PM EST reply actions
This is a tougher match up for Joe I think. Stephens is a scrappy dude. I like Joe but I am not sure he can pull this one off. He will have to get it to the ground.
by billycarnage on Jan 27, 2009 6:06 PM EST reply actions
i don’t care how good of a match up it is or if it will be a good fight, it is a crap main event.
by Bass on Jan 27, 2009 6:14 PM EST reply actions
So you won’t be watching right? I mean ri-i-ight.
by MrFyer on Jan 27, 2009 7:37 PM EST up reply actions
Thats dumb, you dont care if its a good fight? then what do you care about?
by mike22 on Jan 27, 2009 8:10 PM EST up reply actions
I think there were better fights available. I’m not impressed with Joe Silva on this one.
by DB on Jan 27, 2009 6:18 PM EST reply actions
I looked on UFC.com and they still haven’t officially anounced that Amir is injured. Is it possible that that fight will still go down? They already took Franca off the fight card, but Amir vs Catone is still listed on the fight card.
by DB on Jan 27, 2009 6:31 PM EST reply actions
Don’t forget that “Big Bang” can hit extremely hard. He does have most of his wins by submission, but how many came from a hard hit that set it up? I think Stephens is going to be over confident from his last fight and get dropped.
by Bluepit on Jan 27, 2009 6:35 PM EST reply actions
i think this is going to be a lot more exciting the joe vs. hermes was going to be
by matt on Jan 27, 2009 6:46 PM EST reply actions
No doubt, Franca was on the way down and Stephens is on the way up. It’s going to be an exciting fight up to and including the moment Joe rips off one of Heathen’s limbs with some crazy ass submission that he saw in a cartoon once.
by MrFyer on Jan 27, 2009 7:41 PM EST up reply actions
DB, your just that a Dbag. How can you complain about a fight that is exciting like this? Jeremy is exciting, always pushing the pace, and just came off a huge KO. Plus the card is free. Who else did you want to step up in 12 days notice?
by Brandon on Jan 27, 2009 7:04 PM EST reply actions
Lmao. I know, dude acts like he’s been a matchmaker his whole life. Who would you match him up with, siiirrrrrrr???
by allamerican on Jan 27, 2009 7:29 PM EST reply actions
I predict only hardcore fans will watch this event
by EazyEismydad on Jan 27, 2009 8:20 PM EST reply actions
I think this will be a much better fight as has been said before. Cole Miller and Jeremy Stephens’ fight showed what kind of ground defense Jeremy has so I think this will be a very close fight. Cole almost had Jeremy a couple times in submission but it ended with a TKO win for Jeremy so we obviously saw that he is extremely powerful lightweight. Cole Miller and Joe Lauzon are two of my favorite fighters so I hope Lauzon pulls this out but I also like Jeremy so who knows hahaha.
by E30kaiser on Jan 28, 2009 1:07 AM EST reply actions
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