Evan Dunham outstruck Joe Lauzon from start to finish tonight at the TUF 22 Finale in Las Vegas on his way to a convincing unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Dunham feels out with the jab. Lauzon thinks about a combo then opts not to. Dunham unleashes a flurry of punches.
Back to moving on the outside is Dunham and then lands again. Lauzon presses forward and clips Dunham with a punch. Dunham with a nice series of strikes inside. Lauzon lands hard to the body.
Lauzon connects with a right hand. They clinch up and Dunham lands a knee, then Lauzon returns and also scores with a solid elbow.
They break apart and Lauzon peppers Dunham with a few shots. Dunham with the left hand. Now a left for Lauzon and connects with another punch be hind it.
Dunham with a front kick. He works to the head and then body with punches. He gets another combo as Lauzon just puts his guard up, with a nice uppercut punctuating that attack.
Both fighters land during a short exchange in close. Dunham with a head kick attempt. He lands a leg kick and a couple of punches into the bargain. Dunham getting the better of the striking so far.
More offense from Dunham and then Lauzon briefly lands a takedown, but his opponent is straight back up. Right hand lands for Lauzon and Dunham barrels forward and gets a late takedown as the round ends.
Round Two:
Solid body kick from Dunham to start. Lauzon presses forward, but Dunham catches him with a strike on the way in.
Dunham looking to clinch but they don’t stay there. Both men landing in close. lauzon with a left hand. Dunham with a crafty uppercut.
Body kick for Dunham, but Lauzon almost catches it. Dunham with a right, but Lauzon comes over the top with a strike of his own. Leg kick from Lauzon. Push kick from dunham, but Lauzon catches it and returns fire with a punch.
Dunham with the body lock and almost gets Lauzon down, but he stands immediately. Dunham pressing him against the cage. He starts to lands a few knees to the leg. Knee from Lauzon and Dunham responds with a few strikes of his own. Dunham now has a cut to the face as they separate.
Lauzon looking to strike, but Dunham gets the body lock and presses him to the cage. He lands a couple of solid elbows. Lauzon trying to reverse in the clinch, but no luck so far. Nice inside elbows from Dunham, but then eats one from Lauzon as they separate.
Dunham keeps pumnping out offense. Lauzon covering up as Dunham moves forward with strikes. Another combo from Dunham.
Dunham lands with uppercuts and Lauzon returns fire with a winging punch as the round comes to a close.
Round Three:
Better workrate and volume from Dunham so far, let’s see if he maintains that in the final round. Leg kick for Dunham. Good flurry of punches from Dunham.
Lauzon continues to press forward, but more often than not eat strikes as he gets into range. Dunham lands a body kick this time. Again he works to the body with punches.
Punches finished off with a kick from Dunham. Front kick to the body from Dunham, but eats a punch in return as Lauzon catches it.
Punches and a head kick from Dunham. Low leg kick from Lauzon. More punches from Dunham as Lauzon covers up. Lauzon tries to pull guard, but fails and gets back up.
Dunham clearly winning the striking exchanges in this final round. Lauzon with a tired looking takdown attempt that doesn’t pay off and he eats a body kick as he gets back up.
Four or five punches in a row land for Dunham followed by a kick. Another series lands easily. Lauzon comes forward with purpose and lands a good strike, but Dunham then comes back with more volume. Again Dunham with punches and ends with an uppercut. Another flurry and chops his opponent’s legs with a kick to finish this time.
The final bell sounds and that might be something of a relief for Lauzon who was getting picked apart there.
Decision:
Dunham outclassed Lauzon on the feet there and earns himself a very comfortable unanimous decision victory with two judges even awarding him a 10-8 round (30-26 x2, 30-27).
