UFC
Gray Maynard vs. Joe Lauzon hits UFC 155 in Las Vegas this December
Aug 20, 2012 - 9:25:02 PM Gray Maynard vs. Joe Lauzon hits UFC 155 in Las Vegas this December

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

December's going to be a pretty big month in the UFC, with a massive UFC on Fox 5 card already beginning to take shape and a year-end event in Las Vegas bringing a Heavyweight Championship fight. Now, that Dec. 29 UFC 155 event has another bout in addition to the Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez rematch, as lightweights Joe Lauzon and Gray Maynard have agreed to fight on that card.

The fight was announced by the UFC's Brazilian Twitter account on Monday.

Maynard will enter the fight off a victory over Clay Guida in June, a split decision in one of the more disappointing fights of the last year. That win bounced him back from two failed bids to capture the UFC Lightweight Championship against Frankie Edgar last year, and he'll attempt to get back into the picture with a second consecutive win.

Lauzon will attempt to pick up his second straight as well. After suffering a head kick knockout loss against Anthony Pettis earlier this year, Lauzon bounced back with a third round submission over Jamie Varner earlier this month in a fantastic "Fight of the Year" candidate at UFC on Fox 4.

Penick's Analysis: This is a great lightweight matchup, and one that amazingly hasn't yet happened. Both fighters made it to the semifinals of The Ultimate Fighter's fifth season, Maynard losing to Nate Diaz and Lauzon to Manny Gamburyan. They were on the same team that season, and though they've both been exclusively in the UFC since then, they've not once crossed paths. That brings an extra interesting wrinkle to the fight, but it's a matchup that should provide a very good fight overall for this event.