Joe Lauzon is keeping himself busy these days.

Lauzon (24-10 MMA, 11-7 UFC) is readying himself for a May 9 grappling match with Dillon Danis at Metamoris 6 while also having a UFC on FOX 16 bout with Takanori Gomi (35-10 MMA, 4-5 UFC) on July 25 at Chicago’s United Center.

While he enjoys the ability to focus on a single aspect of the sport to train for a grappling match, Lauzon doesn’t think that makes the process “easy.”

“There are pros and cons,” Lauzon told MMAjunkie Radio. “I used to think, ‘Oh, dude, grappling would be so awesome. You’re not getting hit. You’re not getting this. You’re not getting that.’ But the wear and tear is more specific.

“Like, I notice one thing I kind of miss is wrist support. My wrists have been so sore from grappling so much because I’m constantly hand fighting, I’m constantly doing all this stuff like doing a lot of guillotines and things like that. When we’re fighting we have gloves on, and we have hand wraps on, and we have tape on. It kind of gives you a little extra support on your wrists and I kind of got used to it. We’ve been doing so much grappling without the gloves on that my wrists are getting so sore. I’m like, ‘How did I used to do this all the time?’ So, it’s a little tough getting back into it a little bit. But I’m having a lot of fun with it. It’s kind of nice to be able to just grapple and get into condition for one thing instead of two.”

In Gomi, Lauzon has the opportunity to fight one of his fighting idols.

It’s nothing new for a man who made his UFC debut by knocking out Jens Pulver in 2006.

“I think the only person that would be cooler to fight would be (Kazushi) Sakuraba,” Lauzon said. “I’m a huge Gomi fan from back in the day. I was thinking about it, and I think I still have – I’m a computer guy, so I have backups from old computers and stuff like that. I’m sure I still have old Gomi highlights videos from my computer that are probably 10, 15 years old now on external hard drives or DVDs.”

Lauzon has also been on the receiving end of some good news in recent weeks. When Reebok signed a massive sponsorship deal with the UFC, the payout structure was set to be based on a fighter’s ranking in the official UFC rankings.

Lauzon previously pointed out issues with that structure, suggesting he would make the same amount of money under the deal as teammate Joe Proctor, who joined the UFC six years after Lauzon. Under the current structure in which fighters and their management negotiate their own sponsorships, Lauzon makes much more than the less-tenured Proctor. In the new system, they’d be on the same page.

In late April, the UFC announced it will no longer be rankings, but instead tenure, that determines the Reebok payouts.

For Lauzon, who has 18 UFC fights to date, that was very good news.

“I’m obviously very, very happy about the change,” Lauzon said. “I went from being basically bottom tier to close to the top tier. I think I’m in the second tier because I think it’s like 21 fights plus. I think I’m in the 16 to 20; this is going to be my 19th fight. I definitely think it’s a better way of doing it.

“Of course I’m going to be a little bit biased because I’ve had so many fights. I look at it as I’ve had a lot of fights. I’ve paid dues. It kind of makes more sense. I’m one of those guys that got the UFC some good recognition and some good attention.”

For more on UFC on FOX 16, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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