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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
It would have been nearly impossible for the Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon bout at UFC 155 to be a bad fight. It looked better on paper than the originally scheduled Lauzon vs. Gray Maynard fight, and stylistically it looked like it was an easy pick for fight of the night.
Fast forward to Saturday night, and Miller and Lauzon exceeded any expectations fans could have had for the bout. In a thrilling three round fight that was mostly dominated by Miller, both fighters left everything in the cage, bringing the crowd into a frenzy after a poor main card prior to the co-main event.
Miller came out in the first round intent on throwing everything at Lauzon, and he beat him up badly, bloodying his face with a nasty cut between the eyes and unleashing a torrent of punches, elbows, kicks, and knees. But to Lauzon's credit, he kept coming back, landing some short strikes and staying alive.
In the second round, Miller changed pace, taking the fight to the ground and continuing the beating for a time there, before Lauzon turned things around and wound up on top. He wasn't able to do a ton, but he kept himself in the fight into the third.
Tired from an exhausting output in the first two frames, Miller nevertheless was able to continue landing combinations and keeping the pressure on Lauzon in the third. But again, Lauzon wasn't ready to just give up. Blood pouring down his face, Lauzon went for a desperation flying heel hook with time running out, and after losing it he grabbed a tight front choke. But he ran out of time, and Miller survived to win the fight, bouncing back from a loss to Nate Diaz in May.
The loss is Lauzon's second in three fights, but he almost assuredly added yet another "Fight of the Night" bonus to his resume in what could just be the "Fight of the Year" in 2012.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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