Joe Lauzon may have lost his UFC 108 fight against Sam Stout, but he has won a fight in the war against poor sportsmanship and negativity.  Few fighters have been as gacious as Joe Lauzon in defeat.  If we look back to the wonderful post fight antics of those such as Brock Lesanar at UFC 100 or Shinya Aoki at the recent Dynamite event, some fighters have a hard time even dealing with a win in a civil fashion.

Joe Luzon however does not fit into this category of fighters who allow a win or a loss to cause crazy, disrespectful words and actions that would tarnish his character.  Instead, Joe Luzon has acted as a positive role model for the MMA community and made a very cool statement on his website congratulating Sam Stout for his win.  Here is what it said on JoeLauzon.com

“Great job Sam. You whooped my ass tonight. I thought I had the Kimura in the first round and thought it was over… but you had other plans. Your standup was crisp and your cardio was way better than mine. I could hear your corner calling out stuff and still couldn’t deal with it.

I am doing fine this morning. I have a pretty nasty canvas burn on my right knee from shooting in… but I feel okay otherwise. My left eye is a little swollen and my left leg feels like I was kicked about 50 times. Overall… I am doing alright. Great job Sam. (the Fight of the night bonus check is making my leg feel a LOT better, hah.)”

I think much can be leaned from the young Joe Lauzon as MMA moves forward as a sport. Just because the sport is about fighting, it doesn’t mean fighters need to disrespect each other.  MMA is good old competition and good sportsmanship is needed and respected like in any other sport.  I tip my hat to you Joe Lauzon.  This MMA could use more Joe’s like you.