To open up the main card of UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen on FS1, the UFC brought top bonus earner Lightweight Joe Lauzon fight Blackzillion Michael Johnson. Despite being the underdog, Johnson rose to the occasion to dominate Lauzon to win the unanimous decision.
Surprisingly slow start as each fighter tried to find their rhythm. Johnson was the more active fighter, throwing combos looking for an opening. He landed a big southpaw left hand that dropped Lauzon. J-Lau got back up but was clearly hurt and put on the defensive. Johnson didn’t over commit as he continued to unleash combination punches that overwhelmed Lauzon leading to another knockdown. Again Joe got up, but was saved by the bell when Johnson tripped him up in the closing seconds.
After giving up the first round on the feet, Lauzon wasted no time clinching up to force a ground fight. Johnson defended ably and separated. Joe landed a solid left hook, but Johnson backed him up with a quick combination. Lauzon struggled to overcome Johnson’s superior hand speed. He landed some good shots, but was always met with a combo that kept him from capitalizing. Johnson scored a takedown in the closing seconds of the round.
Having clearly taken the first two rounds, Johnson looked very comfortable heading into the final frame. He didn’t let Lauzon get off and punished him with powerful combinations of punches, knees, and kicks. Johnson clearly losing some pep to his punches, but Lauzon was throwing almost nothing and easily getting beat by volume.
Michael Johnson earned a very clear unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-25) victory over Joe Lauzon.