The year 2012 may not have seen a better fight than the scrap between Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner at UFC on FOX 4.
The lightweights fought a riveting back-and-forth battle that had a little bit of everything. Momentum swings, power striking, submission threats. And ultimately, it had a finish. It was the dangerous Lauzon who used an incredible sweep to transition into a triangle choke that brought about the tapout at 2:44 of round three.
The end came during a moment where it seemed like Varner was about to take control. He shot in a powerful double leg takedown, and put Lauzon on his back, but Lauzon used his double-overhooks to sweep and ended up on top. As Varner tried to scramble free, Lauzon locked on the triangle choke. Varner tried to adjust his positioning to free his blood flow, but Lauzon readjusted with him and tightened the hold, forcing the tap.
The rest of the fight was just as exciting from the opening bell. Varner brought his usual power striking game, staggering Lauzon on two occasions, and hurting him several other times.
The seasoned Lauzon weathered the storm repeatedly and found his own opportunities, particularly late in rounds when Varner lost some of the steam off his shots.
Lauzon had a great moment late in the second when he got Varner down and worked him over against the mat. He tried an arm triangle near the end of the round but didn't have enough space and abandoned the hold.
The two shared an embrace to start the third, but then went back to war, with Varner flashing more striking threats with a series of elbows before the finishing sequence.
The surefire fight of the night left Lauzon with a 22-7 record while the hard-luck loser Varner fell to 20-7-1 with 2 no contest.