UFC sophomore Dan Lauzon (12-3) is in talks to try and get his first win inside the Octagon when he meets Ultimate Fighter 8 Champion Efrain Escudero (12-1) at the UFC 114 Memorial Weekend extravaganza planned for May 29 in the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dan Duggan from The Boston Herald tweeted the pending match up earlier today.
After making a name for himself in the World Championship Fighting (WCF) promotion in his home state of Massachusetts, Lauzon made his appearance on the Affliction: "Day of Reconing" card in January 2009, submitting Bobby Green like an overdue tax form in the first round of their lightweight scrap.
After the "T-Shirt guys" bounced themselves out of the fight game, Lauzon got an "Upgrade" in opponents when Zuffa signed him to tangle with submission specialist Cole Miller on the main card of UFC Fight Night 20 back on January 2.
"Magrinho" welcomed the brother of Joe with a first round submission (Kimura).
Like Lauzon, Escudero was enjoying a comfortable winning streak following his championship run on the eighth season of the Spike TV reality show. After outworking Phillipe Nover at the TUF 8 Finale in December 2008, he pounded out Cole Miller at UFC 103: "Franklin vs. Belfort" in September 2009.
It seemed he was on the fast-track to the upper echelon of UFC lightweights -- until he ran into Evan Dunham at last month's UFC Fight Night 20 event.
After an impressive first round, "Hencho en Mexico" found himself on the wrong end of a grisly armbar. Because of his best efforts not to tap, Dunham was forced to crank the limb to the point of no return, damaging some tendons but fortunately avoiding any seriious injuries.
Escudero will reportedly be back in May. Will Lauzon be ready?
UFC 114 will feature the long overdue light heavyweight grudge match between bitter rivals and former TUF 10 coaches "Suga'" Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Keep it locked in to MMAmania for future updates to this still-developing fight card.
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