The only lightweight fight on the UFC on FOX 4 fight card will be the second fight on the main card as Joe Lauzon (21-7) takes on former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner (20-6-1, 2NC).
Lauzon was originally scheduled to take on Terry Etim, but he had to pull out of the fight with an injury and Varner took the fight on one months notice.
Lauzon has been in the UFC since 2006 and has gone 8-4 in the organization. He has won two of his last three fights, which includes a submission victory over Melvin Guillard at UFC 136 last year. His last fight came against Anthony Pettis at UFC 144 and he lost by knockout in the first round. Prior to his fight against Pettis, he felt that a win would earn him a title shot.
Varner recently made his return to the UFC earlier this year and defeated top contender Edson Barboza at UFC 146. It was his first win in Zuffa (UFC/WEC) since WEC 38, which was a win over Donald Cerrone. He is currently on a three fight winning streak, with all three wins coming by stoppage.
Lauzon is a submission specialist and averages nearly five submission attempts every 15 minutes. He used his striking to get the fight to the ground, which was shown against Guillard last year.
Varner will look to keep this fight standing and force his opponent to defeat him in a kickboxing fight. It’s not likely that Varner would attempt to take the fight to the ground, even though he has a takedown accuracy of 53%.
The key for Lauzon will be to get the fight to the ground and work his submission game. For Varner, he will want to stay away from the ground game and keep the fight standing.