Hermes Franca

(I know what you're wondering, and yes, the carpet matches the drapes. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

God damn this economy. After some hard decisions, the UFC has been forced to cut four members of its workforce. MMA Survival has noticed that the following fighters have been removed from the UFC.com Fighters section...

Hermes Franca: Franca's TKO loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 103 was his third defeat in four fights. Franca missed weight for the contest by an embarassing four pounds, and put in an uninspired performance while sporting some seriously jacked-up hair. Franca previously served a one-year suspension for steroids. It was only a matter of time.

Chris Wilson: The Professor kicked off 2009 by losing to John Howard at UFC 94. Then, he was the victim of a terifying robbery in Brazil, was forced to drop out of UFC 98 due to incomplete paperwork, and was finally choked out by Mike Pyle at UFC Fight Night 19. It was Wilson's third Octagon loss in four attempts, and now he's been released by the organization. So, not the greatest year for Chris, really.

(Joe Lauzon, pictured here with his spirit animal.  Photo courtesy of MySpace.)

Judging by his feud with Hermes Franca on the UG, Joe Lauzon is a nice enough guy until you say something about his brother.  That’s a line you probably shouldn’t cross with him apparently, and once you do you've made yourself an instant enemy.

In our exclusive interview Lauzon talks about how the bad blood erupted on the UG, just how pissed off he really was, and what he thinks of Jeremy Stephens’ plan to break his will at UFC Fight Night 17 this Saturday.

CagePotato.com: So how serious was this beef with Hermes Franca?

It was serious on my end.  I take it personally when he comes at my brother like that.  Basically, he hurt his knee and couldn’t fight, so I said how sorry I was to hear it, hope he heals up, best of luck, all that, and maybe we can fight somewhere down the line.  

And then he starts calling me “the luckiest motherfucker alive,” saying that after he saw how much my brother sucks he couldn’t wait to fight me, stuff that’s just completely uncalled for.  I’m saying, ‘sorry to hear about your knee,’ and he’s saying, ‘you suck.’  That’s just complete trash.

Do you think he might have been joking, like a lot of people suggested?

I don’t think so.  He called me the luckiest motherfucker alive.  I just ignored that, whatever.  I signed my post Joe “The Luckiest Motherfucker Alive” Lauzon, and let it go.  I didn’t say anything after that.  Totally let it go.  Then he comes back talking about how much my brother sucks, and it wasn’t a joking kind of thing.  If you’re joking, you don’t say stuff about someone’s family like that, just so direct.  That’s just not something you do.  

(Stephens works for a guillotine against Spencer Fisher at the TUF 7 Finale.)

On Saturday night, Des Moines, Iowa’s Jeremy Stephens will step in to the Octagon to take the place of his friend and training partner, Hermes Franca, in a main event bout against Joe Lauzon.  Things got personal between Franca and Lauzon in an internet forum feud, so it seems only fitting that a friend of Franca be the one to replace him in an attempt to win bragging rights for his side.

In our exclusive interview Stephens talks about what this fight means, how it will be won, and what’s next for the “Lil’ Heathen” in the UFC.

CagePotato.com: You’re stepping in for Hermes Franca on somewhat short notice, but you were training with him to help him prepare for Lauzon, right?

Yeah.  I was down in South Beach training with him, and in Ft. Lauderdale, as well.  I travel a lot to train.

How did you guys get hooked up?  And is that why the UFC asked you to step in for him, because you guys were training partners?

No, we have the same manager.  My manager, when he mentioned that he had Hermes, I said, ‘He’s a great fighter.  I’d love to train with him.’  And when he told Hermes that he had signed me, Hermes said he had a fight coming up and he was going out to San Diego to train and since I had a fight coming up too we connected out there and started training together.  

But when he got hurt I actually called up my manager, Reed Wallace, and requested the fight with Joe Lauzon.

Did it have anything to do with the little feud that erupted between Joe and Hermes on the UG?

(Watch out for the uppercut, Joe)

Give the UFC this much, they don’t wait until the last minute to secure a replacement when someone goes down with an injury.  Earlier today we told you about Hermes Franca pulling out of his main event bout with Joe Lauzon and then starting a bizarre internet rivalry.  This afternoon UFC.com announced that Jeremy “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens would be taking Franca’s place on Feb. 7.

You might remember Stephens as the guy who was on his way to losing a decision against Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 91 before he unfurled a murderous uppercut in the third round that knocked Dos Anjos out cold (see above).  It was an exciting finish that made us remember him and the totally sweet nickname "Lil' Heathen" (even though it rhymes with his last name and we kind of hate that), but Stephens vs. Lauzon still feels like exactly what it is: a replacement bout.

(You just hate to see a guy like Franca sidelined for anything other than a steroid suspension or drunk-driving arrest.)

UFC lightweight Hermes Franca has been forced to pull out of his scheduled bout with Joe Lauzon at Fight Night 17 on Feb. 7 due to a torn ACL, according to a post by Franca on the UG.  Franca said he injured the knee last Saturday and will now have it repaired.  He added:

Thank you UFC,my fans, friends for the support, i was training hard and i was so excited ,but there's      nothing i can do, (could be worse), so Hermes franca will take a break for some recovery,and come back  stronger than ever like i always do!!!!

Nothing like referring to yourself in the third person to remind everyone that you are a professional athlete.  This is the second time in the last week that a scheduled opponent of one of the Lauzon brothers has had to pull out of a fight due to injury.  First Chris Horodecki failed his physical exam prior to a fight with Dan Lauzon, which meant “The Upgrade” had to face “Frantic” Bobby Green and get his testicles jostled.  Now Franca is hurt and the UFC will have to find a replacement to take on Joe Lauzon.

Lauzon, replying to Franca’s post, expressed his disappointment at the news and wished Franca a speedy recovery, real gentleman-like.  Then things got a little weird on the ol’ internets, with this remark from Franca: