Every fight I get asked about my picks for fights… so I am going to TRY and start posting short blogs on fights and who I think will win. Sometimes I am dead on, but most of the time I am way off. I want to hear who you guys think will win too though… so let me know what you think about my picks.

(continue reading…)

From Sherdog.com…

Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout

The Breakdown: The only black magic free bout on the main card, Lauzon and Stout are both lightweights on the rebound looking to strengthen their foothold in the Octagon. While the obvious clash is one of striker vs. grappler, the truth is much more nuanced than that basic assessment.

The more important variable is how Stout’s newfound takedown defense matches up against Lauzon, who will look to get this fight on the mat every second it’s upright. Just watch Lauzon’s match with Jeremy Stephens from Fight Night 17 and you’ll see him pull guard, drop for submissions and generally do anything and everything he possibly can to get the fight in his comfort zone.

(continue reading…)

UFC lightweight prospect Joe Lauzon heading back inside The Octagon

E. BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (Nov. 18, 2009) – A little more than eight months since undergoing knee surgery, UFC lightweight prospect Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon (18-4, 5 KOs, 13 submissions) is fully recovered and anxious to get back into The Octagon.

Lauzon, star of The Ultimate Fighter 5 television reality show, had ACL surgery and his meniscus repaired on his right knee March 6. He is tentatively scheduled to return to UFC action in early January. (continue reading…)

One of my friends from High School had ACL surgery a few months before I did. He was telling me how his knee is feeling good but the range of motion was coming along slowly. He had surgery in like November and I had mine in March, but I think I still have way more range of motion. I think this stretch is directly responsible. I was noticing results from the first time I did it so wanted to share it here with everyone else.  (continue reading…)

Taken from: http://www.wickedlocal.com/raynham/sports/x1885887291/Bridgewater-MMA-fighter-Joe-Lauzon-eyes-return-to-ring-in-09

UFC lightweight title contender and Bridgewater native Joe Lauzon does not rattle easily.

Just 11 days after an electrifying second-round armbar submission victory over Jeremy Stephens to headline SpikeTv’s Fight Night 17 on Feb. 7, Lauzon’s (18-4, 5 KOs, 13 subs) possible title hopes were put on hold when he suffered a torn ACL that forced him to undergo surgery. (continue reading…)

Whenever people hear “ACL surgery” they assume the worst. I know for a long time, an ACL surgery was the end of an athletes career. I have gotten so many emails from people telling me it ended their football, soccer, track and basketball careers. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks since surgery and I am amazed at how much more I am able to do. Rehab has come a long way. (continue reading…)

I was basically stuck in my room for the last month and a half. I couldn’t even get around the house for a while and I definitely couldn’t go outside the house without help. Just walking was pretty slow and difficult and driving was completely out of the question.

(continue reading…)

Since I started this sport, I have always been fortunate to have great trainers. I have a great boxing trainer in Steve Maze and a great strength trainer in Steve Baccari. BJ, Rudy, Tony and Reagan were all incredible trainers on the Ultimate Fighter and while I was in Hawaii. The one trainer that has been there since Day 1, though, is Joe Pomfret.

Here are a few things that I would do/change. First of all… that circuit is only 20 minutes and there is too much time to rest in there. That stuff is good but it shouldnt be your toughest workout. Let me suggest a few other options…

Get Ups – Instead of doing 2 rounds of two minutes each, do 3 rounds of 5 minutes each with a 1 minute rest in between. Also, the 20 is too light. I was doing it was a 25, so start with that, or maybe move to a 30. Or maybe do the first round with a 30 and then go to the 25 for the last two. Start with the 30 and feel it out. But do a 5 minute round instead of a 2. Make sure you use good form and keep your arm locked out the whole time. Ask Dan about the form if you have any questions. If you are doing this okay, up the weight. Make sure you protect your shoulder and rotator cuff… ask Dan about this and he will explain. Its very important.

Man Makers with Rack Walk (should always be done together) – Ask Dan about these too. In my experience, this is one of the toughest workouts ever. Its basically a 20 minute workout with no break. You do high pull snatches with the 25 pound bell and then run on a treadmill (or jump rope) as your rest. There is no set rest interval, its a feel thing. So do sets of two of the high pull snatch on each side for as long as you can go, and then hit the treadmill or jump rope until you feel rested. You want your rest to be as short as possible. You want to work up to basically doing high pull snatches at a good pace for 20 minutes. You have to be the judge of the pace on this. Nothing is timed and its all feel, so don’t cheat yourself or be smart and take breaks when you really don’t need them. When you finish the man maker, you should feel like you just got hit by a train. If you don’t, you rested too much. The idea is to work up to nonstop work for 20 minutes.

Once you do the 20 minutes, there is a 3 minute cool down which is an overhead rack walk. Its basically… walking with the bell you just used above your head with your arm locked out. Do your left for 30 seconds, then your right for 30 seconds, then your left for 30 seconds and so foth for 3 minutes total. This should be done at the end of your workout, so get a good sweat going by grappling and hitting mitts before you do this… and then go the fuck home after you stretch out. Very important to stretch your hamstrings and groin after this. Ask Dan about the man maker, overhead rack walk and the stretches to do… he can explain better in person but if you have questions you can ask me. Real tough to describe all the stretches.

The Man Maker while tough isn’t a substitute for grappling and boxing… its additional. Don’t just go in and do a man maker and then go home. Get a good workout in first, and then finish up with this.

Up Downs – You need two or more people to help you with this. You are going to do this for 3 rounds of 5 minutes each. Its an interval routine where you do an Up for 1 minute and then a Down for 1 minute. After 5 minutes you get a 1 minute rest. If you finish a round with an up, you start the next with a down. An Up = Standup while a Down = Grappling. Start with an Up and hit mitts at 100% or spar with someone at like 70%. Then for your grappling, grapple at 100%. Dont let yourself stall though while grappling and dance around looking for a takedown… so start in a clinch or in a position. Here is a sample Up Down…

Rd 1 – Minute 1 – Up – Hit Mitts hard with Pomfret
Rd 1 – Minute 2 – Down – Pummel with D-Lau
Rd 1 – Minute 3 – Up – Box with Eric
Rd 1 – Minute 4 – Down – D-Lau in your guard… try to get up
Rd 1 – Minute 5 – Up – Mitts with Pomfret

1 Minute Rest

Rd 2 – Minute – Down – Alex Dunworth with side control on you
Rd 2 – Minute – Up – Box with Eric
Rd 2 – Minute – Down – D-Lau starts deep on double and you defend
Rd 2 – Minute – Up – Mitts with Pomfret
Rd 2 – Minute – Down – Alex Dunworth starts with back control

1 Minute Rest

Rd 3 – Minute – Up – Non Stop Kicking the Thai Pads with Pomfret
Rd 3 – Minute – Down – Pummel with D-Lau
Rd 3 – Minute – Up – Box with Eric
Rd 3 – Minute – Down – You with Side Control on Alex
Rd 3 – Minute – Up – Non stop power combinations with Pomfret on Mits

When you are doing an Up, its striking. When you are doing a Down its grappling/wrestling. You shouldnt be doing MMA on your down because we are trying to focus on stressing your muscles by squeazing and not having them pop with punches. You want to be able to pop as best you can while doing your up. The key on these is to have fresh people constantly… getting 4 people is best because you have two for up and two for down… so they are constantly fresh and able to push you.

Don’t do all of these at once, hah. Do you have weights at home? If possible, do a get up in the morning at home and do the Up Down at night at RSD. The Man Maker and Overhead Rack Walk is a killer workout on its own… so put it after everything else, but its the most important thing you can do strength and conditioning wise.

The Manmaker and Get Ups are AWESOME for your shoulders. My shoulders used to get tired but once I started doing those it got 100 times better. I was doing them for about a month when we sparred last and I noticed a big difference.

Let me know what you think after you try it out