Cerrone suffered a last minute cancellation at this weekend’s UFC Austin.
Donald Cerrone was denied his 38th walk to the Octagon this weekend at UFC Austin thanks to a freak injury suffered by his opponent Joe Lauzon on the day of the fight. This is the second time Cerrone vs. Lauzon has fallen through. An illness to Cerrone nixed their first match-up on the day of UFC 275.
Cerrone spoke to ESPN about this most recent cancellation and what he wants to happen next.
“Joe texted me (on Saturday morning) and said, ‘Sorry, brother. I can’t stand on my leg,’ and I was like, ‘Well, we’re (1-1) now, ain’t we?’” Cerrone said (ht MMA Junkie). “Joe is a game dude, so it’s not like he’s making something up. I know Joe just wouldn’t pull anything, so heal up brother, and we’ll make it happen one day.”
When asked if Cerrone still wanted to fight Lauzon he said “of course”.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with his knee or how long it’s going to take, but we’re already in the talks. We’ll hear real soon.”
Unfortunately for Cerrone, UFC President Dana White has already said that he has no interest in trying to book Cerrone vs. Lauzon again.
Cerrone added that the UFC have offered him a separate fight for a card that is coming up soon. He also said that bout might be a catchweight contest.
The fight with Lauzon was scheduled to be Cerrone’s first lightweight contest since he lost to Justin Gaethje in 2019.
Cerrone is winless in his past six contests. That streak began with a loss to Tony Ferguson in 2019 and included the Gaethje loss and defeats to Anthony Pettis, Conor McGregor and Alex Morono.
Cerrone’s most successful spell in the UFC was his eight fight winning streak in 2013-15. During that run he beat Eddie Alvarez, Edson Barboza and Jim Miller on route to scoring a title shot against Rafael dos Anjos. Cowboy would lose that bout by TKO.