Michael Johnson was in excellent form tonight at UFC On FOX Sports 1, silencing the Boston crowd by dominating local hero Joe Lauzon on the feet en-route to a convincing decision victory.
Johnson looking bright in the opening stages flicking out the jab and landing a leg kick while Lauzon remains patient and sizes up his opponent.
Johnson unleashes a combination and Lauzon covers up to deflect the brunt of it. Lauzon throws a couple of punches and thinks about a clinch, but then opts not to.
Still it’s Johnson who’s being the busier with half the round gone and is landing a few nice punches to the body. A left from Johnson suddenly drops Lauzon, but he manges to get back up.
Not sure Lauzon’s quite got his bearings back yet he’s trying to wade forward with offense and is getting caught with more shots. Lauzon eats them though and stays upright.
There’s a brief lull and Lauzon’s got a chance to gather his thoughts. Not for long though as Johnson’s starting to ramp up the pace again and in close he starts landing some quality combinations including hard uppercuts that has Lauzon rocked again.
Great showing from Johnson here and he bundles Lauzon to the mat again just as the round ends with more offense.
Onto round two and Lauzon really needs to find a way into this fight and quickly. Johnson unleashes another swift combo.
That spurs Lauzon to press forward with purpose in order to clinch up with Johnson against the cage. He keeps him there briefly, but then Johnson manages to break free.
Despite the beating he took in the first round Lauzon is continuing to take the center of the Octagon as Johnson cicles around him flicking out the occasional punch but notably lowering his pace here.
Half way through the round Johnson lands a good punch that stops Johnson in his tracks for a moment, but then he fires back with another combination in close which is where he’s been most effective so far.
Another good right hand lands for Lauzon and Johnson opts to clinch up and press him against the cage. They separate with a minute to go and Johnson lands a nice body punch and then upstairs with a hook.
Lauzon moving forward and occasionally scoring with a punch, but Johnson’s click flurries are generally making a bigger impact in this fight. Johnson lands a nice takedown to close off the round on top.
Quicker punching and more output continue to be a common theme for Johnson in the third. Johnson closes the distance and unleashes with elbows, knees and punches which Lauzon seems to have really problems dealing with, almost freezing on the spot as he takes the brunt of the impact.
Lauzon’s struggling here and isn’t offering much in return, often resorting to just single strikes and then covering up as he comes on the receiving end of another flurry.
In the final 30 seconds Lauzon lands a hard body kick. Johnson taking it easy as the clock ticks down, but then unleashes one final flurry with 10 seconds to go and then lands a takedown.
Johnson really stepped up his game here and looked great, while Lauzon unusually never seemed to find his rhythm in the fight and can have no complaints with Johnson’s unanimous decision victory (30-27 x2, 30-25).
