UFC Fight Night Live: Kenny Florian vs Joe Lauzon

Personally, I've been waiting for Joe Lauzon to finally get some respect around the UFC.

The guy is only 23 years old, and he has some sick skills. He put the fastest, rear naked choke on Jason Reinhardt that I have ever seen, and let's not forget he KO'd Jens Pulver in 48 seconds. 3-0 in the UFC and 15-3 over all in MMA, it's about time he got to fight a top-five lightweight in Kenny Florian.

Florian refuses to go the distance in fights. His nickname should be changed from Kenflo (which is very unoriginal Kenny as is Joe Lauzons J-Lau I might add) to "the Finisher," simply because all of his six wins in the UFC haven't gone to the judge's scorecards.

This creates a great storyline because in each one of these fighters wins, there has been a stoppage. So who can stop who in this lightweight battle? I'm actually not really sure.

Kenny Florian, I think has far more to lose in this tilt then Joe Lauzon. Florian is in the title picture in the lightweight division and a loss to an up-and-comer will certainly drop him down a bit.

Lauzon has everything to gain in this fight. A win means he has beat a lightweight contender who has fought for the title and went the distance with then champ Sean Sherk. That would solidify him in the top five lightweights in the UFC, especially if he can stop Florian.

With Sherk unable to do so, that would definitely gain some brownie points with Dana White and the UFC for a future bout with whoever the champ is.

I believe this fight has major lightweight title implications. With Joe Stevenson losing to B.J. Penn that dropped him out of the title picture and moved Lauzon and Florian up. The winner of this fight could be the No. 1 contender to challenge Sherk/Penn later this year for the lightweight crown.