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Fighters On A Collision Course To Sun Dome

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By EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: February 6, 2009

TAMPA - Something has to give.

Joe Lauzon is the type of fighter who wants to take an opponent to the ground and go to work. Jeremy Stephens, he's content with squaring up and delivering crushing blow after crushing blow.

When the pair meet Saturday night inside the USF Sun Dome, something must – and will - budge.

"I think the styles collide," Stephens said. "One guy is trying to stand up and go for the knockout and the other guy is trying to take him down and work his submissions. So it definitely makes for a big interest. I think it's definitely a good matchup and will be a good fight."

The two will meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night, the UFC's first venture into Tampa. The event will air live on Spike TV. Originally, Lauzon was to face Hermes Franca, but a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee forced Franca (20-7) from the bout.

During his preparation, Lauzon ramped up his training, adding more days during the week. Additionally, because he was to face Franca, a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, Lauzon spent more time sharpening his Jiu-Jitsu technique.

"I definitely think it's going to pay off," said Lauzon of Bridgewater, Mass. "Hermes is very good on the ground and I think I was ready for him, so fighting a guy with less Jiu-Jitsu is definitely going to be a little bit of an easier fight.

"Jeremy is still, very, very good, but at the same time, I went from fighting a guy with a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu to a guy that's not."

Stephens took the fight on short notice as far as the calendar is concerned. But in reality, he has been training for this matchup for several weeks.

"[Franca] was training for Joe Lauzon and I had been training with [Franca]," said Stephens of Des Moines, Iowa. "Then I came back here and one of my good buddies, Josh Nere was fighting on the same card. So I've been training with him the whole way through. So it's like I've been training for this fight.

"I'm ready to go. I did take it on 12 days notice, but that's nothing to me. I actually called and requested the fight. … Hermes is like a brother to me. He's helped me out a lot and I felt bad for him."

Back to the styles.

Stephens' reputation as a banger has cultivated a long list of YouTube viewers to his soul-rattling uppercut knockout of Rafael dos Anjos last November.

"I'm a standup fighter and I have a lot of tools that I use," Stephens said. "I was trying to go for the knee, thinking he was going to shoot in, but he never shot in. He was always trying to clench with me and then go for the takedown. In the third round, Hermes was just telling me to throw the uppercut."

He did and it landed.

Lauzon, who started in mixed martial arts as a hobby in 2001, understands he can't allow Stephens to uncoil that uppercut. He has to control the fight and not get caught backing up.

"I think he's very, very good," Lauzon said. "I don't think he's the same caliber, on the ground, as Hermes, but he's still very good there. He's got a bunch of submissions; he's very heavy-handed, very aggressive. I think it's going to be a good fight."

Those colliding styles could make for a big bang Saturday night.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
WHAT: UFC Fight Night
WHEN: Saturday, 6:45 p.m. (doors open at 6)
WHERE: USF Sun Dome, 4202 East Fowler Ave.
TICKETS: $40-$250
FIGHTS: Main Event: Joe Lauzon (16-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (16-3); Undercard: Cain Velasquez (4-0) vs. Denis Stojnic (12-0), Mac Danzig (19-5-1) vs. Josh Neer (24-7-1), Luigi Fioravanti (13-4) vs. Anthony Jackson (10-6-1), Kurt Pellegrino (18-4) vs. Rob Emerson (10-6-1), Dan Miller (11-1-1) vs. Jake Rosholt (5-0), Matt Grice (10-1) vs. Matt Veach (10-0), Gleison Tibau (27-5) vs. Rich Clementi (40-13-1), Nick Catone (6-0) vs. Derek Downey (10-3), Steve Bruno (13-4) vs. Matt Riddle (1-0).

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214.

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