Joe Lauzon

After 18 month hiatus, Lauzon faced Jonathan Pearce on October 18, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 6. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one.

Lauzon faced Chris Gruetzemacher on April 7, 2018 at UFC 223. He lost this fight after his corner stopped the fight after the second round.

I don't like that “Creepy Joe” one. I don't like J-Lau, but I'm not going to trade it for another terrible one. You don't get to pick your own nickname. A couple of guys that I train with and have known since high school-they're the ones who started the “J-Lau” thing. I can't get away from it. It's been so long now. That's how people know me. Not everyone is an expert and could say 'Oh, he changed his nickname, you can't call him that anymore.' They know me as “J-Lau” so it's still going to be “J-Lau” to them. I'm stuck with it. it's a terrible nickname. Whatever. I hated j-lau at first because of the whole Jennifer Lopez reference. It kind of sucked and I tried to hate it at first. It was the same thing with‘Creepy Joe.’ I kind of liked ‘Baby Joe’ though. For BJ to be talking so much good stuff about me and for Rudy [Valentino] to say that I remind him of BJ, it was something else.BJ’s name comes from ‘Baby Jay’ and for him to say so many good things about me and then use a nick name for me that is kind of like his name was pretty cool. But ‘J-Lau’ stuck so it’s fine. At least it gets them to say my name right.

Lauzon next faced Marcin Held on January 15, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 103. He was awarded a controversial split decision victory, even stating he felt he lost the bout post-fight. Likewise, 16 out of 17 media pundits scored the bout for Held; the lone holdout scored the fight a draw.

Lauzon next faced Stevie Ray on April 22, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 108. Lauzon lost the bout by a majority decision.

Lauzon faced Clay Guida on November 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 120. He lost the fight via technical knock out in round one.

Lauzon faced Diego Sanchez on July 9, 2016 at UFC 200. He won the fight via TKO in the first round, becoming the first man to finish Sanchez by strikes.

After sustaining virtually no damage during his previous fight, Lauzon was quickly rescheduled to rematch Jim Miller on August 27, 2016 at UFC on Fox 21. Lauzon lost the rematch by split decision. Both participants were awarded a Fight of the Night bonus.

Lauzon next faced Al Iaquinta on January 31, 2015 at UFC 183. Lauzon lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Lauzon faced Takanori Gomi on July 25, 2015 at UFC on Fox 16. After successfully taking Gomi down, he won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Lauzon faced Evan Dunham on December 11, 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Lauzon faced Michael Chiesa on September 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. After a back and forth fight, Lauzon defeated Chiesa via TKO in the second round after opening a significant cut above Chiesa's right eye, forcing a doctor's stoppage. The performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Lauzon was expected to face Diego Sanchez on November 15, 2014 at UFC 180, replacing an injured Norman Parke. However, on October 23, it was announced that injuries to both Sanchez and Lauzon led to the pairing being scrapped altogether.

Lauzon is married to Katie, and they have two sons, Joey (born 2014) and Jacob (born 2017). Joey was diagnosed with stage 4S neuroblastoma a week after he was born, and was finally cleared as cancer free in early 2019.

Lauzon faced Michael Johnson on August 17, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 26. He was defeated by unanimous decision, after being outmatched by Johnson.

Lauzon faced Mac Danzig on December 14, 2013 at UFC on Fox 9. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Lauzon faced Anthony Pettis on February 26, 2012 at UFC 144 He lost the fight by KO due to a head kick in 91 seconds.

Lauzon was expected to face Terry Etim on August 4, 2012 at UFC on Fox 4. However, Etim was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Jamie Varner. In a back-and-forth fight that saw both men rocked, Lauzon secured the victory after locking in a triangle choke on Varner at 2:44 of the third round. His performance earned him the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night honors and a Fight of the Year nomination at the World MMA Awards.

Lauzon was expected to face Gray Maynard on December 29, 2012 at UFC 155. However, Maynard pulled out of the bout citing a knee injury and was replaced by Jim Miller. Miller defeated Lauzon via unanimous decision. The back and forth action earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Lauzon was briefly linked to a bout with Charles Oliveira on November 19, 2011 at UFC 138. However, Oliveira instead faced Donald Cerrone on August 14, 2011 at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle, replacing an injured Paul Taylor.

Lauzon defeated Melvin Guillard on October 8, 2011 by rear-naked choke submission at UFC 136, earning his fourth Submission of the Night honor and sixth straight UFC Bonus award.

Lauzon fought Sam Stout on January 2, 2010, at UFC 108 and lost in a very entertaining fight by decision, which also won Fight of the Night.

Lauzon was expected to face Terry Etim on August 28, 2010, at UFC 118, but Etim had to withdraw from the bout due to injury. Lauzon was instead set to fight fellow Ultimate Fighter season 5 castmate Gabe Ruediger. During the UFC 118 weigh-ins Ruediger brought Lauzon a cake that read "Sorry for your loss". Lauzon defeated Ruediger, who is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, via armbar in 2:01 of round one having completely dominated him for the entire fight. According to commentator Joe Rogan, Gabe "was never in it for a second."

Lauzon faced George Sotiropoulos on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123. The fight began with an action-packed first round, that saw Lauzon set the pace. However, by the end of the round, Lauzon began to tire and saw Sotiropoulos began to gain momentum. The second round saw a fatigued and passive Joe Lauzon. After a scramble, Sotiropoulous ended up on top position and torqued a kimura to force the tap-out.

Lauzon was scheduled to fight former WEC Lightweight Champion, Hermes Franca on February 7, 2009, in the main event for UFC Fight Night 17. However, Franca pulled out of the event with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Jeremy Stephens stepped in as a late replacement. Lauzon defeated Stephens by armbar in the second round.

On April 2, 2008, Kenny Florian defeated Lauzon in the main event of UFC Fight Night 13 by TKO via strikes from mount in the second round. The first round was back and forth as Florian opened up a cut on Lauzon's head with elbows and took his back while Lauzon landed several takedowns and attempted several submissions. Florian opened the second round with a takedown and soon advanced to mount where he landed multiple unanswered strikes until the fight was waved off.

Lauzon made his debut in the UFC upsetting former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver at UFC 63 on September 23, 2006, winning via KO in 48 seconds and in doing so, beat 7-to-1 odds.

In 2004, Lauzon had his first cage fight, winning with a first round armbar in a local Massachusetts promotion, Mass Destruction. Lauzon then went on an eight fight winning streak with all the fights ended via submission. Lauzon won an eight-man tournament, defeating three fighters in one night in the World Fighting League and was crowned the WFL Grand Prix Champion. Lauzon was also named 2004 Massachusetts fighter of the year by local Massachusetts MMA outlets.

Lauzon's first amateur fight was in 2002. He held a 5–3 record as an amateur.

Joseph Edward Lauzon Jr. (born May 22, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist, competing in the UFC's Lightweight division. A well rounded fighter, he is tied with Nate Diaz with having the second most post-fight bonus awards in UFC history, behind Donald Cerrone. Joe's younger brother, Dan Lauzon, is also a mixed martial artist.

Joseph Edward Lauzon Jr. was born on May 22, 1984, in Brockton, Massachusetts. He lived there until he was in the third grade, when he moved to East Bridgewater. Lauzon lived on a small farm and enjoyed riding horses. The young Lauzon and his friends had an interest in professional wrestling, and would re-enact moves on Lauzon's trampoline. Lauzon did not begin training in the martial arts until his junior year at East Bridgewater High School, after seeing a demonstration that piqued his interest. Lauzon graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2007 with a Bachelor's degree in computer science. He worked as a network administrator in Cambridge, Massachusetts before he began training in mixed martial arts full-time.