After a rough stretch his past four fights, Joe Lauzon will try to get back on track this spring.
Lauzon (27-14 MMA, 14-11 UFC) has been booked for a lightweight fight against Chris Gruetzemacher (13-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) when the UFC returns to New York in April. Long Island-based Newsday reported the matchup today. UFC officials have not yet made a formal announcement of the booking.
UFC 223 takes place April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Lauzon has back-to-back losses and setbacks in three of his past four fights. His one victory in that stretch is a split decision he admitted afterward should’ve gone the other way. It’s been more than 10 years since Lauzon had a winning streak of more than two fights, though he consistenly has been one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC and holds the promotion’s record for most post-fight bonuses.
After a split-decision loss to Jim Miller in August 2016, which won “Fight of the Night” honors in a brawl most thought Lauzon won, he took a split call from Marcin Held in January 2017. But he said Held should’ve been the one with his hand raised, not him.
His next time out, the tide was turned and instead of getting a potential draw or win, he found himself on the short end of a majority-decision loss to Stevie Ray this past April. At UFC Fight Night 120 in November against fellow veteran brawler Clay Guida, he was stopped with a first-round TKO.
Gruetzemacher has his own two-fight skid to attempt to bounce back from. The 31-year-old Arizonan came to the UFC on an 11-fight winning streak, including victories under the WSOF and Strikeforce banners. His UFC shot came courtesy of Season 22 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” on which he was coached by UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber.
On the show, though, he was knocked out by Conor McGregor teammate and training partner Artem Lobo in the quarterfinals. He still got a shot in the UFC and won his official promotional debut with a decision over fellow cast member Abner Lloveras at the TUF 22 Finale in December 2015.
Since then, though, he has back-to-back submission losses, both by rear-naked choke. Chas Skelly tapped him out at UFC Fight Night 104 nearly a year ago, and Davi Ramos got him at UFC Fight Night 123 in December.
With the addition, the latest UFC 223 lineup now includes:
For more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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