Joe Lauzon has ruled out talks of retirement after his upcoming encounter with Donald Cerrone at UFC 274.
Having last fought in October 2019, Lauzon has remained semi-retired from competition since his last active year in 2017. ‘J-Lau’ did not officially move on, with one fight in the following two years each, and stated that he would not return unless there was something that strongly interested him.
Three years departed from his last outing against Jonathan Pearce, an offer to fight Donald Cerrone ultimately convinced Lauzon to come back to action. Both Cerrone and Lauzon are veterans of the sport and have amassed a combined 33 fight-night bonuses in their time with the UFC.
Speaking to media ahead of his bout this weekend, Joe Lauzon talked about his relationship with Donald Cerrone. “We’re friendly,” Lauzon said. “But we’re going to try to murder each other Saturday night.” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Joe Lauzon is open to more fights
Coming out of his break to compete against Cerrone, members of the community speculated about what the future looks like for Lauzon. It seemed like this might be his last fight. However, the 37-year-old American fighter is open to more fights in the future if he believes them to be worth the efforts.
“I have to like the opponent, I have to like the date, and I have to like the location,” Lauzon said. “If this is the last fight, cool. If this is not the last fight, cool. But just keep sending me names.”
Lauzon last fought in 2019 to stop Pearce in the first round via a TKO. While Cerrone has been the more active fighter, he hasn’t won a bout since 2019 and goes into UFC 274 with high stakes. This could be the last time fans get to witness both men in action as they continue through the later part of their careers.