If you think Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight contender Joe Lauzon -- who has countless stoppage victories and a number of "Fight Night" awards under his belt -- is a tough guy, you should meet his seven-month old son Joey.
Born on Jan. 12, 2014 in Weymouth, Mass., with stage-four neuroblastoma -- which resulted in a tumor "the size of an adult fist" pushing against his spine -- baby Lauzon has been undergoing chemotherapy ever since, to tackle the cancerous disease before it progresses.
But what was expected to be an eight-round battle of chemotherapy, turned out to be a three-round affair, as Joe proudly revealed that his son decided to "kick cancer's ass" after going through less than half of the scheduled chemo sessions.
The fight, however, was not easy by any means, as Joe tells UFC.com that the excruciating experience was tough for all members of his family.
His words:
"How does a baby that's a couple days old have cancer? A third of his body were cancer cells. It's crazy to have a tumor that big on such a tiny body. It completely caught us super off-guard. It's the worst feeling ever and the worst news you can ever get."
Chemotherapy is far from an easy treatment, even for an adult, so you can only imagine the fear the crept into Joe and his fiancee Katie's minds when learning that their newborn son would have to endure the process if he wanted to enjoy a healthy life.
Still, the decision to go ahead with the treatment was a "no-brainer," explained Joe, despite the "laundry list" of potential side effects which included heart failure and hearing loss.
Initially set for the aforementioned eight rounds of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation to clear up what was left, Joey, much like his daddy, had other plans and decided to go for the jugular early and take care of business as fast as possible.
Joe explains:
"You talk about a fighter who just bites down on his mouthpiece and goes at it, that was him. They were giving him injections and doing biopsies, taking tissue from his hips and all sorts of stuff and he didn't cry at all. He would bite on his pacifier like ‘let's do it.' We kept calling him the honey badger."
And as of July 3, 2014, Joey Lauzon, the baby who from day one came into this life as an underdog to take on the biggest fight of his life, is now cancer free.
For Joe and Katie, despite the fact that their son was born on Jan., 12 of this year, July 3 was the happiest day of their lives because that's when they received the news that there was no evidence of the disease and that the treatments had indeed worked.
Though the birth of their first-born was anything but smooth and traditional, the Lauzon family can now smile freely and enjoy their healthy baby boy; who refused to wilt and keep fighting.
"It wasn’t the clean happy that most people get to experience. It was a really, really rocky road and such a rough start. But now, okay, it’s smooth sailing. And we held it together pretty well. Obviously, we both had a couple of times where we’re bawling our eyes out, but we were there for each other and we became way tighter as a couple because of the whole thing. He’s a happy baby, he loves to play. He doesn’t really fuss much. Basically, if he’s crying, it’s because he’s hungry, needs to get his diaper changed, or he’s tired. I see a lot of other babies and they’re just little whine bags. (Laughs) Honestly, he’s completely content. You sit him somewhere and he’s just looking around the room, and he’s great. He’s sleeping through the night now, and he’s just a real happy, healthy baby."
As for Joe, he's scheduled to return to the Octagon on Sept. 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50 to face Michael Chiesa at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Leydard, Connecticut.
And what used to be one the most important things in his life he was rarely late for, Lauzon admits these days he's always running a couple minutes behind for training because putting his little boy down is a whole other battle.
One that father and son don't mind participating in on a daily basis.
To read more about Joey's fight, click here.