Joe Lauzon is on an extraordinary streak of six "of the Night: bonuses: four "Submission of the Night" wins, even in losing merited two "Fight of the Night" awards. He hopes an exciting win over Pettis puts him into a title shot vs. the winner of Saturday's nights Edgar/Henderson main event.
"Nate Diaz and Jim Miller are going to fight in May," Lauzon told MMAjunkie.com. "Frankie Edgar is defending his title against Ben Henderson this weekend, and the winner is going to want to fight a few months later.
"With Diaz and Miller, you're going to be talking August. I think that's a long time to wait all the way until August, so I think that if I come away with a win on Saturday, I think I'm the next guy in line.
"I definitely feel that I could challenge for the belt. I put together three wins early in my career in the UFC, but this would be a big three-fight streak, so I'm happy about that.
"People give me crap sometimes about conditioning and cardio and things like that, but I'll argue that guys that are known for having great cardio are not great finishers. would rather go out there and push the pace and put guys away. If I don't put guys away and I end up getting tired, then so be it. I'd rather be a fighter like that because that's a fight I'd rather watch than the guy who's going to take somebody down and is known for having good cardio because he doesn't do anything for five rounds."
"Everybody talks about how Pettis has amazing standup and I have great ground. But I think Pettis has good ground, and I think I have good standup. He might still have the advantage on the feet a little bit, and I might have the advantage on the ground, but I think it's going to be a lot closer than people realize."
"I think it's a good matchup for both of us. I'm always looking to come out and make a statement, and wins like that definitely help. If I go out and fight Pettis and I eke out a decision, that doesn't look that great. But if I go out there and I smash him, that looks great, and that's when I start complaining that I need a title shot.
"We both enjoy fighting exciting fights. I'm going to bring it. He's going to bring it. I think it's got 'Fight of the Year' written all over it."
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