Joe Lauzon got the better of Mac Danzig in a hard fought battle at UFC On FOX 9, with his superior grappling ability being the big difference between the two men over the course of 15 minutes of fighting.
Round One
Both men biegin feeling out each other from range with punches. Then Lauzon bursts forward, gets the body lock and secures an early takedown.
Then he does too pick his moment to move over Danzig’s guard and into mount. Lauzon looks for an armbar, but Danzig is able to escape and ends up on top.
Danzig not doing too much and it’s Lauzon who threatens with another submission attempt from his back, then uses an omaplata to get into a favorable position and back to his feet.
Danzig stays in the clinch, then they break free and Lauzon lands an elbow on the way out. There’s some infighting in close again with some good elbows landing from Danzig, then Lauzon spins Danzig around and has him in the clinch against the cage.
It’s Danzig’s turn to reverse as they continue to jostle for a favorable position from the clinch. Lauzon gets the momentum to press forward and get Danzig back down again and finishes the round on top.
Round Two
Couple of nice hooks from Danzig at the start of the second. Lauzon targets the body with a punch. Danzig goes for a leg kick and there’s some more punches to the midsection.
They go into the clinch and Lauzon scores with a knee to the body before they break apart. Couple of jabs score for Danzig. Danzig letting his strikes go a little more now and he’s having some success.
Danzig presses Lauzon to the cage. Lauzon walks forward, getting himself away from the mat and landing a few knees.
Lauzon trips Danzig to the mat and works from his full guard. An elbow lands and Danzig’s face is immediately covered in crimson either from a cut or perhaps his nose. Actually it looks like a mixture of the two – a cut to the bridge of the nose.
A few more hard shots from Lauzon. Into the final 20 seconds of the round and Lauzon manages to move into full mount, then attempts an armbar, but there’s not enough time to really go for the finish.
Round Three
A flurry of punches from the two men to start the round. Nice right hand and a kick from Danzig. The two men clash heads which causes a very brief stoppage from the ref.
Back to it they go and Danzig lands a solid shot to the body. A few more punches from danzig as he gets back into the rhythm that was paying dividends earlier in the second round.
Lauzon’s able to trap one of Danzig’s arms momentarily and then leads with an elbow over the top that lands hard. He then immediately follows up with a takedown and gets it.
Some nice punches from Lauzon and then moves into side control. He’s trying to get the crucifix position and does so before landing some hard elbows to Danzig’s already blood streaked face.
Lauzon opts to move to mount and is landing some big blows. Now he’s looking for that armbar that he’s tried to secure twice already in this fight without success. He’s being very patient with it this time trying to soften Danzig up before he really commits to it, but it doesn’t work out and Danzig ends up on top.
Lauzon definitely seems to be the better grappler of the two though and before long he manages to get back on top and then into side control again. A big elbow cracks down in the final 10 seconds to surely seal the round in his favor.
Decision
It’s down to the judges then and it’s Lauzon who earns the unanimous decision win (30-27 x3).
