Lauzon Wins in WCF; ‘Upgrade’ to WEC Near?
WILMINGTON, Mass., Feb. 8 -- Dan Lauzon (Pictures) had quite a bit on the line when
he entered the ring Friday just outside of Boston to take on
Frank Latina at World
Championship Fighting.
With the Tapout reality show crew there to chronicle his preparation and a potential WEC bid in the offing, not to mention the added pressure of fighting in front of his hometown fans, Lauzon came through with flying colors.
Latina, a late replacement, came to fight and had his moments
before Lauzon woke up and figured out he was in a fight. The wakeup
call was a straight right hand from Latina that snapped his head
back and got his attention.
"Usually, most fights, I start off slow," said Lauzon, who ran his record to 9-2-0, "and I really have to get hit with a punch or have something happen to me to be like, ‘Man, you're in a fight, get going.'"
Lauzon was in his element on the mat. Quickly he began to transition from submission to submission, eventually locking up a triangle choke at 3:01 of the first round.
"He rolled me to my back, and I was able to slip my leg in and get the triangle," said Lauzon of the submission series that tacked another victory to his ledger, "and I thought I had the armbar, so I switched … but he was able to stack me back down. So I switched to the triangle, squeezed it up and got the tap."
Henrique Bicalho and Jason Bennett battled back and forth throughout the first round of their fight. Bennett used his quickness and combinations to slow the forward-charging Bicalho and keep the fight on the feet. But once the fight hit the mat, Bicalho grabbed an arm and began to crank until Bennett was finally forced to tap at 2:15 of the period.
Nate Kittredge hit a takedown that landed him in side control to kick off the action against Ronnie Wuest. From the dominant position, Kittredge delivered a slew of elbows to the body, which are illegal in the WCF. With Wuest unable to continue, referee Gary Foreman called a halt at 1:40 of the first round and gave him the victory by disqualification.
Nuri Shakir (Pictures) stopped Travis Lerchen with strikes from the top position after a brief scramble. Shakir landed a punch that froze Lerchen, and referee Kevin McDonald felt he was unable to defend himself and stepped in at 2:42 of the first round.
John Benoit and Justin Hammerstrom dueled for control throughout the first round with neither fighter getting too much of an upper hand. The second round saw Benoit score a takedown off a scramble before he moved to a high mount. From there he locked on a triangle that left Hammerstrom gasping for air and tapping at 45 seconds of the second round.
Ken Stone had his way with Daniel Duarte en route to a convincing win. Stone took the fight to the ground and easily moved to mount before taking Duarte's back and latching on a rear-naked choke at 1:46 of the first frame.
John Franchi impressed in finishing a game Justin Homsey early in the second round. Franchi dropped his opponent in the initial exchange of the bout with a stinging right hand, but Homsey, fighting on instinct, scrambled until he could regain his wits.
The second round was not as kind. Franchi stuffed a shot and trapped Homsey in an awkward position, then pounded him unconscious with punches at 40 seconds.
Nate LaMotte controlled a wild Stephen Stengal before depositing him to the mat with a big double-leg slam. He quickly passed to mount and proceeded to sink the fight-ending rear-naked choke as soon as Stengal turned and gave up his back at just 39 seconds of the first period.
Dan Bonnell cinched a guillotine choke on Mark Giove at 2:45 of the opening stanza.
Greg Croteau notched a win over Aaron Chidester via unanimous decision with scores of 20-18 on every scorecard.
Larry Kerrigan stopped Lou Czekalski by way of guillotine choke at 3:23 of the second round.
Jose Lopez took home a unanimous decision over Sean Ratcliff by scores of 20-18 on all three judges' cards. The bout was not without controversy. Referee Mark Aliberti stepped in seconds before the final horn when it looked as if Ratcliff had locked up an armbar.
With the Tapout reality show crew there to chronicle his preparation and a potential WEC bid in the offing, not to mention the added pressure of fighting in front of his hometown fans, Lauzon came through with flying colors.
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"Usually, most fights, I start off slow," said Lauzon, who ran his record to 9-2-0, "and I really have to get hit with a punch or have something happen to me to be like, ‘Man, you're in a fight, get going.'"
Once awakened, Lauzon got down to business, commencing a vicious
exchange of punches with Latina, who fired back as many shots as he
could before the fight hit the floor off a scramble.
Lauzon was in his element on the mat. Quickly he began to transition from submission to submission, eventually locking up a triangle choke at 3:01 of the first round.
"He rolled me to my back, and I was able to slip my leg in and get the triangle," said Lauzon of the submission series that tacked another victory to his ledger, "and I thought I had the armbar, so I switched … but he was able to stack me back down. So I switched to the triangle, squeezed it up and got the tap."
Henrique Bicalho and Jason Bennett battled back and forth throughout the first round of their fight. Bennett used his quickness and combinations to slow the forward-charging Bicalho and keep the fight on the feet. But once the fight hit the mat, Bicalho grabbed an arm and began to crank until Bennett was finally forced to tap at 2:15 of the period.
Nate Kittredge hit a takedown that landed him in side control to kick off the action against Ronnie Wuest. From the dominant position, Kittredge delivered a slew of elbows to the body, which are illegal in the WCF. With Wuest unable to continue, referee Gary Foreman called a halt at 1:40 of the first round and gave him the victory by disqualification.
Nuri Shakir (Pictures) stopped Travis Lerchen with strikes from the top position after a brief scramble. Shakir landed a punch that froze Lerchen, and referee Kevin McDonald felt he was unable to defend himself and stepped in at 2:42 of the first round.
John Benoit and Justin Hammerstrom dueled for control throughout the first round with neither fighter getting too much of an upper hand. The second round saw Benoit score a takedown off a scramble before he moved to a high mount. From there he locked on a triangle that left Hammerstrom gasping for air and tapping at 45 seconds of the second round.
Ken Stone had his way with Daniel Duarte en route to a convincing win. Stone took the fight to the ground and easily moved to mount before taking Duarte's back and latching on a rear-naked choke at 1:46 of the first frame.
John Franchi impressed in finishing a game Justin Homsey early in the second round. Franchi dropped his opponent in the initial exchange of the bout with a stinging right hand, but Homsey, fighting on instinct, scrambled until he could regain his wits.
The second round was not as kind. Franchi stuffed a shot and trapped Homsey in an awkward position, then pounded him unconscious with punches at 40 seconds.
Nate LaMotte controlled a wild Stephen Stengal before depositing him to the mat with a big double-leg slam. He quickly passed to mount and proceeded to sink the fight-ending rear-naked choke as soon as Stengal turned and gave up his back at just 39 seconds of the first period.
Dan Bonnell cinched a guillotine choke on Mark Giove at 2:45 of the opening stanza.
Greg Croteau notched a win over Aaron Chidester via unanimous decision with scores of 20-18 on every scorecard.
Larry Kerrigan stopped Lou Czekalski by way of guillotine choke at 3:23 of the second round.
Jose Lopez took home a unanimous decision over Sean Ratcliff by scores of 20-18 on all three judges' cards. The bout was not without controversy. Referee Mark Aliberti stepped in seconds before the final horn when it looked as if Ratcliff had locked up an armbar.
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