Sam Stout v. Joe Lauzon Set For UFC 108…

September 30, 2009, at 6:32 pm

Sam Stout was supposed to take on Phillipe Nover at UFC Fight Night 19, but Nover had a seizure backstage that forced the fight to be cancelled. While Nover’s career is now in jepordy, Stout is going to fight again. Instead of taking on a New Yorker, he’ll take on Joe Lauzon, a Boston native. Here’s the news slug from MMA Weekly:

Lightweights Sam Stout and Joe Lauzon are set to meet at UFC 108 on Jan. 2.

MMAmania first reported the bout Monday and MMAWeekly.com subsequently confirmed it via sources close to the fight.

UFC 108 is expected for the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., though the UFC has yet to officially announce the event.

Lauzon (18-4) has been on the bench since tearing the ACL in his right knee in February. On Wednesday he told MMAWeekly.com that while everything isn’t 100-percent yet, he’ll be ready in January.

“There’s some things that I notice that are a little bit off, but I’m back to training hard,” said Lauzon. “I’ve got something to train for, so that helps with motivation.”

The East Bridgewater, Mass., resident said Stout’s preference for the stand-up game played a part in his decision to take the fight.

Stout’s stand-up has already been broken down on this website many a time. He’s an exciting fighter, but against someone with a good ground game, Stout is a fish completely out of water. With Lauzon’s excellence on the ground, Stout is the perfect opponent for Lauzon’s comeback.

Basically, push my prediction for Nover-Stout back to January. Lauzon will submit Stout easily and get on the comeback trail.