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Joe “Baby Joe” Lauzon (-270) vs. Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (+230)

by Stan Leung
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UFC 108: Evans vs Silva
January 2, 2010 7 GMT
Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout
UFC Betting Pick: Joe Lauzon (-270)

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Lightweight bout: Joe “Baby Joe” Lauzon vs. Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout

Sam “The Hands of Stone” Stout (14-5-1) has not really evolved much as a fighter and I do foresee him getting any better, anytime soon. To be honest, I do not know why he is even in the UFC as he really has no hope to ever compete or contend for a title. The only thing I can surmise is that UFC match maker Joel Silva knows Stout can strike and so may be able to put on a good show. Either that, or Stout will fight for peanuts which makes him a good filler for a UFC undercard. In all honesty, Stout should drop down to the WEC and fight where his abilities would really be noticed.

Since debuting at the UFC Stout has had six fights go by decision—not really the “Hands of Stone” if he cannot KO his opponents. Stout is known for his power yet he has yet to prove it—he was a big fish while on the small Canadian circuit but now is he a very tiny fish in the UFC ocean. He will be fighting Joe “Baby Joe” Lauzon (18-4) who is a very good well-rounded fighter. His grappling skills are very tight and despite the fact that he started martial arts at a late age (junior year of high school) and has only obtained his purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he has a very solid skill set to work from.

This fight will be a grappler versus striker battle. In most cases, unless the striker is far superior to the grappler, the ground fighter will win. The thing to note about this upcoming battle is that though Lauzon is known for his grappling, this guy can also strike.   


In his first UFC bout at UFC 63 on September 23, 2006, Lauzon upset former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver by KO in 48 seconds and at the time, Pulver was one of the most dangerous strikers in the lightweight division. Though he may look lanky, Lauzon has KO power and I can see his long reach and strikes back up, frustrate and confuse Stout.

All in all, Lauzon is a better all-round fighter. He was crowned the World Fighting League Grand Prix Champion after participating in an eight-man tournament and defeating three of the eight fighters in one night. He was also named 2004 Massachusetts fighter of the year. For someone who had his first amateur fight in 2002 Lauzon has become a very good all-round MMA fighter in a very short time span. Stout is a good Muay Thai fighter but that is the extent of his skill set and has not sought to improve other aspects of his game. He does not work on his grappling and only practices shoot defence. His “leave well enough alone” mentality is self-defeating as his ability to win fights with his striking will fail him soon enough—Lauzon is a smart fighter and will outthink Stout who will only fight the same style.

Lauzon is a big fighter for the 155 division. He is tall and long-limbed which makes it difficult for guys facing him. Think of his fighting style like that of Nick Diaz. Lauzon uses his reach to back off opponents and has a very good ground game if the fight should go in that direction. Though Stout is a better technical striker he will have problems closing the distance and getting inside on Lauzon. Lauzon will use his jabs to set up the straight right hand which will cause problems for Stout. Stout also has better kicks, but again it will be nullified by Lauzon’s reach.

This fight will be a grappling match and Stout will bear the brunt of it. Though he has a decent take down defence, he will have difficulty with the taller, lankier Lauzon. Of Lauzon’s 18 wins, 14 of them are by submission—not a bad showing for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt. With only six fights in the UFC octagon, Lauzon has a good mix of victories with four by submission and two by KO.


His only loss in the UFC was to Kenny Florian at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon but he was pretty much in the fight. In the first round, Lauzon took down Florian, but Florian was able to land several elbows to the head that cut Lauzon. This round went back and forth—Florian landed a body kick and took Lauzon's back while Lauzon landed several take downs all the while looking for knee bars and heel hooks.  Florian opened the second round with a takedown and punches on Lauzon from the mount position and though Lauzon attempted another heel hook, Florian continued to strike Lauzon from both the mount and side control at which point the fight was stopped. Even though he lost that fight, Lauzon became a better fighter that day.

Bottom Line: The sports betting odds makers should open up with both fighters fairly even. Lauzon should be the betting favourite but the odds should not be that great and online UFC bettors can get a good value moneyline bet. My UFC prop bet would be to wager on a submission by Lauzon. No matter how the lines open up as I would lay some heavy coin on Lauzon to win this fight easily.

Stout has not improved vastly if at all during his MMA career and Lauzon will pick apart Stout with his reach and superior ground game. Once Lauzon forces Stout on the ground he will take his back and with his lanky legs and sink in a rear naked choke.

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