Let Me Upgrade Ya: Dan Lauzon Q&A

Dany Lauzon made time for us the other day and we really appreciated it. His fight against IFL lightweight champ Chris Horodecki is scheduled to be the first on the Affliction card Sat night on PPV, so don't miss it. This card is getting a ton of attention and is billed as can't miss. Get your boys together, split the cost, and order it. Support our hometown fighter here at WKFTB. Plus a lot of you casual fans haven't yet seen Fedor fight. That alone is worth the price, nevermind the fact that the entire card is stacked.



Wolfe: Hey Danny, thanks for making time for the blog on such short notice. The fight is only a few days away. All around the MMA community this card is getting a lot of attention, and around here we are all pulling hard for ya. Good luck Saturday night and just do your thing. I really believe you've got this thing.

D-Lau: Thanks. I'm excited and very confident.

Wolfe: I was in attendance at your last two fights at WCF in Wilmington and you just ran through the competition. The local fighters at your weight just aren't close to your level so I'm glad you are getting a PPV fight against a top fighter. How do you think you match up with Horodecki in terms of style and skill?

D-Lau: My all around game is better than his. I can wrestle, I can submit people, and I can knock people out. He's a good kickboxer. He gets ahead on the score cards but doesn't do too much damage. His last 6 wins have been decisions. My last 7 wins have been finishes. I go into every fight looking to finish it as quickly as possible. You don't get paid for overtime. Although he's the favorite, this is a very tough fight for him.

Wolfe: About those hands of Horodecki. Can we expect to see you throwing with him or is the better strategy to show off some of your ground game?

D-Lau: His ground is his weakness, but I'm not scared to stand with him. I'm going to fight him wherever I feel most comfortable.

Wolfe: How is your cardio right now?

D-Lau: My cardio is great for once. I always struggle with this. I have been training for this fight for almost 4 months. My warm-ups each night start with 5 rounds that are 5 minutes with 1 minute rest in between all stand-up. Then, I do my MMA rounds or shark baits. (Me in the middle with fresh guys cycling through me, while I'm tired)

Wolfe: I'm glad the era of wrestler's laying and praying has come and gone. One thing I love about you and your brother is how active you are in the ring. Horodecki has 6 knockouts, 6 decisions, and 0 submissions. Once he got to the IFL, he became champion but went to decision in 6 of his 8 wins. You on the other hand have never went to decision and neither has your brother Joe in his 21 fights. You have 6 KO's and 5 submissions in your victories. Do you think your style of dictating the tempo and pressing the action makes your opponent uncomfortable and gives you a big advantage? And I haven't seen many of his fights but how the hell does a standup fighter like Horodecki go the distance so often?

D-Lau: He goes the distance so much because, like I said, he just racks up points by scoring with leg kicks. He doesn't commit and try to finish people. Joe's and my style is come at you and come aggressive. Hurt you with our hands and if you survive we look for the submission. We're very well rounded, and we're dangerous no matter where the fight goes.

Wolfe: You are 11-2 and Horodecki is 12-1. I know Horodecki dominated in the IFL, but none of the guys he beat had a win-loss record like yours. He ran through the local fighters in Canada and then had success in the IFL. You haven't really been tested either besides Fisher, which I will get to later, but my point is that I think MMA is still learning how to build up fighters like boxing does, but this is a good example of how it should be done. I think you both have bright futures but the winner of this fight will be on a fast track to becoming a superstar.

D-Lau: Definitely. The guy I fought in New Jersey, which is my only other loss, is even better than Spencer. Devidias Taurosevicious, look him up. He was a professional rugby player in Russia before moving to the United States. His only losses are to UFC veteran Frankie Edgar and UFC veteran Jim Miller. Also, he fought Ryan Schultz in the IFL to a 5 round decision. At the time, I wasn't ready for a fight like that. And I was dealing with a bunch of EB (East Bridgewater, MA) drama bullshit. Since then I have matured and gotten on the right track. The winner of this fight is definitely going to make a big step in the right direction.

Wolfe: I was looking at your fight history earlier, and I kind of forgot how early you were thrown into the UFC. You only had four local fights at the time when you got the call to fight 19-2 Spencer Fisher as an 18 year old kid, the youngest in UFC history. I went back and watched that fight today to refresh my memory. What I saw was you kicking Fisher's ass for 4 minutes straight before you completely gassed and ate some shots until the ref stopped it. I really believe you would have beat him if you didn't take the fight on short notice. But anyway, I don't want you to have to rehash that fight. My question is, how much better of a fighter are you today as opposed to when you made your debut over 2 years ago? What have you most improved on?

D-Lau: I'm ten times the fighter today, both mentally and physically. My biggest improvement since that fight is in my stand-up. When I fought Spencer I was a brawler. Now I'm a mixed martial artist that can box.

(Watch that Fisher/Lauzon fight here)

Wolfe: Joe told us he would probably beat you 8 out of 10 times if you guys laced them up full UFC rules. Do you agree? And what would be your strategy fighting him?

D-Lau: I disagree, obviously. I actually asked him about this when I read his interview. I won't give my strategy to beating him because I don't want any of his opponents in the future to get any ideas if they read this. My boxing coach says if me and Joe fight 10x. I take the first 3 and Joe takes the next 7. I think if me and Joe fought 10x it would be very even with Joe winning 6-4 or vice versa, maybe split 5 and 5. All depends on the day.

Wolfe: Joe has his own big fight coming up against Hermes Franca. Im sure you think hes going to do well, but what impresses you most about Joe's skills? Did notice that he come back with new tricks after training with BJ Penn in Hilo for a while?

D-Lau: When Joe first returned from Hawaii he was a beast. His postioning was very tight and he was slicker than ever. He showed me some tricks. But, me and Joe grapple differently. He has a better top game than me and I have a better game from my back than him.

Wolfe: Who is the biggest named fighter in the UFC that you would love to get a shot at?

D-Lau: I'm not really sure. I would love a rematch with Spencer.

Wolfe: Do you have any plans to move up in weight at some point? You walk around a lot bigger than what you fight at.

D-Lau: As long as I can make 155, that's where I want to stay. How much longer will I be able to make 155? Time will tell, I'm still growing.

Wolfe: I heard you always liked Vitor. Would you ever have thought you would be fighting on the same card as Vitor Belfort? I mean you were in 4th grade when Belfort knocked out Vanderlei Silva in that famous blitz.

D-Lau: Vitor Belfort is my all time favorite fighter. He fought in the UFC at such a young age. It's an honor to be fighting on the same card as a lot of the guys on it, like Fedor, Arlovski, Belfort, Barnett. So many veterans that paved the way for our sport.

Wolfe: Is there anything specifically you want to focus on in terms of your skill set for 2009? Like maybe improve your wrestling, or get your standup to a level where its even more devastating? Anything like that?

D-Lau: I just want to keep improving on my cardio, keep myself focused, and improve my all around game.

Wolfe: Some fans still don't realize how much technique matters in real fighting. I've seen you beat Sev in a fight easily, even though he is a freak of nature. Do you think you could beat Ray Lewis in a fight in the cage? Or is that asking too much?

D-Lau: It's a fight, anything can happen. I think I would definitely give Ray Lewis a tough fight. He's a football player, I'm a fighter. I know what I'm doing when the fight hits the ground. I could get him to walk into a choke or armbar. Also, look at it like this, How would Chuck Liddell do in a rushing attack against Ray Lewis? Ray would chew him up and spit him out. Is that a bad example? I don't know but it sounds cool. ha ha.

Wolfe: As for the last analogy, I would maybe go with how Brock Lesnar was awful and got cut in mini camp when he tried out for the Minnesota Vikings even though he was physically just as impressive, if not more, than the other defensive ends. He probably couldn't even play D1 NCAA football until he was coached up. But anyway lets move on.

Wolfe: If you are going to drink a light beer, Bud, Miller, or Coors? And has the wild side of D-Lau calmed down a little bit these days and focused more on training to be a champion? Or is the partying just part of the package?

D-Lau: Coors or Bud light. The wild side is still in me. I can still get crazy but I've really matured in the last couple years. I look back at shit I've done and think about what a dueshbag I used to be. I do still go out and party, but I'm much calmer now. I have too much to lose and I've worked too hard to fuck it up now. People that know me, they know I have grown up and matured. I don't want to be remembered as the drunk idiot, I use to be. I want to be remembered for my fighting ability.

Wolfe: Lastly, we asked Joe this but hes a wealthy computer nerd and entrepreneur so we thought we might have a better shot with you. 300 bucks and I will wash your car if you say "everybody check out whitekidsfromtheburbs.com" when you are getting interviewed after the fight. Any chance?

D-Lau: Keep the $300, don't wash my car and when I win I'll give the blog a shout-out if I remember.

Wolfe: Haha thats very awesome. The guys would be dying back home if it happened. But alright thanks for the time Dan. We all have been looking forward to this card for weeks. East Bridge in the hizzy Sat night.

D-Lau: Thanks Wolfie and Thanks to everyone for the support. I'm going to try to make EB proud and bring home a win.

-J. Wolfe
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