Lauzon: The way to win a performance bonus is not to go chase it
Joe Lauzon: “Maybe we’re both going to be bleeding all over the place. I don’t know. But that’s not what I’m looking for. If it happens, I’m all about partaking.”
Joe Lauzon holds the UFC record for performance bonuses, and Clay Guida is in the top 10 all time. However, Lauzon has a counter-intuitive approach to earning one.
The $50,000 matters, but when you go chasing after something like that, generally you don’t catch it, said Lauzon as transcribed by Matt Erickson for MMAjunkie. I haven’t done as well in bonuses in the last eight fights or so. Before, it was like almost every single fight, I was getting a bonus. I got 10 bonuses in my first 13 (fights, I think. It’s slowed down. But I was never looking for it. They were just happening on their own. They were happening organically.
I think it’s going to be the same thing [vs . Guida]. I’m not worried, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta go out there and get a bonus.’ No. I’ve got to go out there and win a fight.
I was excited [when the UFC offered the fight]. You always see these guys that have been around for a long time and go, ‘I wonder how it would go against that guy.’ A lot of those guys, I’ve fought now. I’ve fought Jim Miller twice, I fought Diego, I fought a lot of these guys. But it never worked out with Clay, and I was excited for it. We’ve both been around for so long and it’s just great that we’re going to get to see how it actually would play out.
In and out [is the gameplan]. In and out. We can go in there and have a three-round brawl, or we can go out there, like when I fought Diego – that was pretty much a perfect fight for me. I clipped him right off the bat, and TKOd him in like a minute and a half. That was great. … Quick, easy fight is the best for me. I know the fans and the UFC would like to see a little bit longer fight and us really go at it and test it each other. But for me, I want a flawless victory – go out there and bang him with a hand and catch him in a guillotine or something.
… Maybe we’re both going to be bleeding all over the place. I don’t know. But that’s not what I’m looking for. If it happens, I’m all about partaking. We’ll go for it. But we’ll see what happens.