What Makes Joe Lauzon Special
It is said that nerds and athletes do not co-exist within one another; a nerd does not have the physical capabilities to do well in sport, and an athlete lacks the cognitive power to solve complex problems, Joe Lauzon puts these stigmas to rest.
Joseph “J-Lau” Edward Lauzon Jr. was born on May 22, 1984, in Brockton, Massachusetts to Joseph and Debbie Lauzon. As a child, Joe lived on a farm where he enjoyed riding horses and re-enacting professional wrestling moves on his trampoline with his friends. He lived in Brockton until he was 8 years-old, when his family moved to East Bridgewater where he still lives today.
Joe found an interest in computers at an early age after taking one apart and learning how it worked, after which he was obsessed. When he got to East Bridgewater High School, the classroom computer was faulty, so he opened it up and fixed it, the school’s I.T person noticed this and later offered him a job on the school’s payroll to help with I.T. The same year Joe would be introduced to combat sports via grappling classes which he decided to take as a hobby, but the competitive nature of Joe’s young mind made him want to train and compete every single day. He began fighting at an amateur level in 2002 and finished with a 5-3 record. In 2004 he took his first professional fight where he won by submission in the first round. Joe would close out 2004 at 7-0 with all finishes and the Combat Zone Lightweight Championship.
Joe entered Wentworth Institute of Technology as a computer science major after already having experience in the field. He graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree and got a job as a network administrator in Cambridge, Massachusetts before deciding to train martial arts full-time. Now equipped with boxing, wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu experience, Joe took his professional career to the next level when he was offered a one-fight contract in the UFC to fight against former Lightweight champion, Jens Pulver, who had left the UFC and been dominating for 4 years in other promotions.
Going into the fight as a 7-to-1 underdog, Joe only needed 48 seconds to land the big shot that knocked Pulver out and awarded him his first performance of the night bonus, which was the start of a record-breaking collection of bonuses for Joe. “J-Lau” leapt at the opportunity to compete on The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 for a six-figure UFC contract where he finished his first two fights by submission and TKO, but sadly came up short in the semi-finals losing by unanimous decision to Manny Gamburyan. Joe was offered a fight on the finale where he faced Brandon Melendez and won by submission in round 2 to be awarded his second bonus.
Since debuting in the UFC, Joe has finished every win except two, scored 7 Fight of the Night awards, 8 Performance of the Night awards and is one of the only fighters to score a Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night award in the same bout. These days, when Joe is not fighting, training or teaching the next generation of MMA fighters, you might find him doing commentary for CES MMA or playing some of his favorite games on Xbox.
Joe currently holds a 28-15 record (14-12 UFC) and is tied for third-most post-fight bonuses in history with Nate Diaz. Whether it be putting on a show in the octagon or fighting his brother Dan at a family barbeque, Joe always entertains the fans and will continue to do so when he fights one of the only people to have more performance bonuses than him, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Watch the two go head-to-head on the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Emmett this Saturday.
