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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Joe Lauzon Responds To Globe Piece Calling MMA "Human Dogfighting"
 The following is an article UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon posted on his personal website, www.joelauzon.com, responding on a recent editorial published by the Boston Herald that compared the sport of MMA to dog fighting.
Here is the piece in its entirety, courtesy of Joe Lauzon.
A Poor Comparison
by Joe Lauzon
Not everyone is on board with Mixed Martial Arts yet, but more and more sports fans are getting accustomed to our sport. With the increased popularity of the sport, it's becoming mainstream and it's just getting started.
To the uninformed, people who aren't into MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), the fights seem unconventional compared to more widely accepted arts like boxing, wrestling and karate. Oddly enough, MMA is a combination of the three with elements of many other arts incorporated. The sport has evolved many times over to most effectively control, submit or knock out a true resisting opponent.
I compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which most involved with the sport simply call the UFC. It's not the Ultimate Street Fight and it’s not the Ultimate Dog Fight. I might be offended by the writer's comments if he were more informed or took the time to actually research the facts. If the writer knew how much safer the UFC was than boxing, he would not have likened it to dog fighting.
As part of an upcoming sport, it's my job to not only fight in the ring, but also be an ambassador to the sport. There are over 200 fighters under contract in the UFC, which is the NFL of Mixed Martial Arts promotions. Many of these fighters come from diverse backgrounds and are graduates from some of the best schools in the country.
Miguel Torres of East Chicago, Indiana, paid his way through school by fighting while others were tending bar. Miguel earned a degree in marketing from Purdue University. Miguel is the current WEC Bantamweight champion.
Former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin is a former math teacher from Cincinnati with a masters degree in Education, Jim Miller attended Virginia Tech, and Brock Lesnar was an NCAA wrestling champion and is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Some have masters degrees while others have bachelors. There are really too many to list.
Frank Mir was raised in a true martial arts family and earned a black belt in Karate at the age of 12. Frank won a state wrestling championship in high school at 17 and earned a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu in three and a half short years. Frank's stage eventually became an Octagon surrounded by plastic coated chain link fence. It's within this Octagon that he shows the world his martial arts skills and shares his valuable message of perseverance with the world as he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. You would be hard pressed to find a more articulate man in any professional sport.
Our sport has been likened to dog fighting, which anyone will say is cruel. Dogs have no choice and are bred to fight, injure and maim the other dog. They are kept in poor conditions and are anything but family pets.
Fighters on the other hand make up their own minds regarding their career path, just like you have done. I choose to compete in mixed martial arts for the competition of it all. I love to compete and the UFC has the best fighting conditions, best referees, the best doctors and an outstanding safety record. Fights are stopped at the first sign of a fighter being unable to defend himself or the first sign that the fighter does not want to continue.
It is my job to not only inform the original writer, but also all of those that he has misinformed. I appreciate that everyone has their own opinion, but I get to express mine as well. I do not believe the writer has been to a dog fight, nor has he been to a UFC fight, or met with a 40-year-old boxer with a slur from taking thousands of shots to the head. I also doubt he has taken a look at a punch count showing a comparison of what a mixed martial arts fighters takes versus that of a boxer.
Boxing averages 11 deaths per year. In the over 15 year history of Mixed Martial Arts, there has been one death in the United States and it was not in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Long before its incarnation that we see today, Pankration was the original form of mixed martial arts. It was truly the first fighting system in human history and was used by Ancient Greeks back in 648 BC. U.S. Soldiers today practice mixed martial arts to prepare for hand to hand combat. Myself and many other UFC fighters have gone all around the world (Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc) to work with and help train our nation's troops.
Tighter rules along the way have helped, in addition to strict supervision by a state appointed sanctioning body. Fighters are required to go through a laundry list of medical testing before every fight. Before my first fight in the UFC, I had to see about 7 different doctors and specialists just to get licensed. I had to have a physical, blood work for Hepatitis and HIV, an MRI, an ophthalmologic exam, and a few EEG's. In some cases, I saw specialists both at home and then the commission's own specialists. It turns out, fighter safety is always the number one priority.
It's a poor comparison between sports where fighter safety is so important to dog fighting where safety is the last thing on anyone's mind.
I can't help but liken the article to the way a lot of lazy college students write papers. They form their uninformed opinion and then write their paper based on their own preconceived notions. It's pretty easy to run a quick online search for information on the web to support your point of view.
Generally though, even lazy college students are bright enough to use information that is less than 10 years old to back up their claims. I eagerly await this particular writer's future shocking pieces about Bill Clinton's extra-marital affairs and how all computers are going to go haywire for Y2k. Let's get with the times.
Writers, among others, love to sensationalize things. This case is no different. This particular Boston Globe writer is calling our sport "human dog fighting" while another L.A. Times columnist writes about the crowd being hungry for blood. No doubt, these two writers will be referencing and quoting one another for a long time about the barbarism that is supposedly in our sport. In the day and age when everyone has an online blog, you can always find someone who shares your opinion. Regardless of what the ignorant claim, Mixed Martial Arts fights are between two willing competitors that at the professional level have spent considerate amounts of time improving their skills in a number of Olympic sports.
These sports include boxing, wrestling, karate, judo, tae kwon do and jiu-jitsu. All ages and levels of experience are encouraged to participate in these sports. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was started by Rorion Gracie to show the world the validity of his family's style of jiu-jitsu. The best representatives of all these other martial arts were pitted against one another and Rorion's family were the victors in the end.
The UFC was never about a blood sport even though the original promoters let if flirt with that line. Back then, the sport was new and there was no regulation. The times have changed and modern day mixed martial arts has grown and is very safe. The sport is highly regulated and is one of the safest in the world.
Joe Lauzon's Original Posting of this article.
The Boston Globe story.
(Follow Joe Lauzon on Twitter)Labels: Boston Globe, Joe Lauzon
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 7:47 PM
Friday, February 27, 2009
Lauzon Sidelined For 12-14 Months With Knee Injury
In his official blog, UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon on Thursday said "a history of bad luck" with his knees has caught up to him again. Next week, the popular fighter will undergo surgery to repair damage to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus of one.
Lauzon said doctors would re-setting the cartilage in his meniscus, as well as reconstructing his ACL ligament with tissue from a cadaver.
"It's a very long rehab and my knee may never be the same again," wrote Lauzon.
The injury may put him on the sidelines for 12-14 months as he begins the long road to recovery.
"I will be off my feet for a month to a month and a half... training SUPER light in about 4 or 5 months... training decently hard in about 9 months and fighting in around 12-14 months," continued Lauzon. "It's going to be a long rehab… but thats how it goes."
Since his appearance on the fifth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," Lauzon has suffered only one defeat in six Octagon appearances, against Kenny Florian at UFC Fight Night 13. Earlier this month, he defeated up-and-comer Jeremy Stephens at UFC Fight Night 17 using an impressive array of ground skills, submitting the Des Moines-based fighter in the second round.Labels: Joe Lauzon
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 5:10 PM
Sunday, February 8, 2009
UFC Fight Night 17 Post-Fight Interviews
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 8:14 PM
Thursday, February 5, 2009
ESPN MMA Live UFC Fight Night Preview & GSP vs BJ Penn
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 4:50 PM
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
J-Lau Returns Enthused From Visit With U.S. Troops
 Press Release:
UFC lightweight contender Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon's recent 12-day goodwill trip visiting U.S. military troops in Iraq and Kuwait was a knockout for everybody.
Lauzon (17-4, 4 KOs, 13 submissions), star of The Ultimate Fighter 5 television reality show, was on the trip with fellow mixed-martial arts fighters Jorge Rivera and Heath Herring, as well as some models and ring card girls.
"It was awesome," Lauzon said from home. "It was one of the happiest 12 days of my life. They kept us real busy going from one camp to another. We visited 14 camps in Iraq and Kuwait. The first hour we'd give demonstrations and the second we signed autographs and posed for pictures with them. I was thrilled to see all of them over there, away from their friends and family, but helping all of us back home. It was cool to see how excited and appreciative they were to see us. There are a lot of MMA fans over there, too.
"They watch UFC events on the Armed Forces Network, but, due to the time differences, it's on there at 3 in the morning. They watch and then start their day at 6. The weather wasn't bad. They say it hits 150-160 degrees in the summer, but it is dry heat like in Las Vegas, not humid like it is in Massachusetts. It was between 85 and 105, hit 110 once, while we were there but it wasn't bad at all, especially when I got off the plane back home and it was freezing."
The special guests got to play some poker with the troops, fired weapons a few times, drive around in Humvees, and were transported from camp to camp on Black Hawk helicopters.
"It was a long, busy 12 days," Lauzon concluded. "But I'd definitely do it again. It's something that I'll never forget. I'm glad I did it."
For more information about Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon, who has a Bachelor's degree in computer networking from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, go online and visit www.joelauzon.com or myspace.com/lauzonrsd.Labels: Heath Herring, Joe Lauzon, Jorge Rivera
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 1:16 PM
Monday, October 13, 2008
J-Lau, Rivera, Herring to Visit U.S. Troops
 UFC lightweight contender Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon, 17-4, 4 KOs, 13 submissions), star of The Ultimate Fighter 5 television reality show, leaves Tuesday on a 10-day goodwill trip visiting U.S. military troops in Iraq.
Fellow mixed-martial arts fighters Jorge Rivera and Heath Herring are among the other athletes on the trip. "It's going to be an amazing experience," 24-year-old Lauzon said. "I can't wait to go overseas and see the troops in Iraq."
For more information about Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon, who has a Bachelor's degree in computer networking from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, go online and visit www.joelauzon.com or myspace.com/lauzonrsd.Labels: Heath Herring, J-Lau, Joe Lauzon, Jorge Rivera, UFC, Ultimate Fighter
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 12:45 PM
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