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Joe Lauzon went on to clear the air about a supposed retirement conversation he had with Dana White prior to UFC Boston on Saturday.
During the UFC Boston post-fight scrum, Dana White revealed a supposed deal he had with Joe Lauzon. It was an agreement that had Lauzon retiring, no matter what the result is.
“Me and Joe Lauzon had a deal that he would retire after this fight, win, lose, or draw. And he didn’t do it,” White said.
In an interview with MMA Fighting on Monday, Lauzon didn’t deny the existence of their agreement, but went on to clarify the terms from his side.
“I promised them. If the fight doesn’t go well, you will never hear from me about a fight again,” Lauzon recalled of his conversation with UFC execs. “(White) said, ‘Deal,’ and that got the ball rolling with Shelby. I think that was mid-June.
“The entire thing was, ‘if the fight does not go well, you’ll never hear from me again.’”
Lauzon said he immediately approached the UFC president after his win over Jonathan Pearce, bearing his intent to carry on with his fighting career.
“I corner Dana and I said I want to fight again. He said, [my boxing coach Steve] ‘Maze doesn’t think you should fight,’” Lauzon recalled. “I understand, Maze is not in charge of me, (and) I’ve made some big changes. I promise I’ll be ready. I want to fight again.
“He’s like, ‘If you really want to fight again, we’ll let you. But your coaches don’t think it’s a good idea.’ I understand, they’re looking out for me, but this is what I want to do.”
Lauzon admitted he was surprised about White’s statements about forcing him to retire, which he completely understood. Ultimately, he still feels capable to compete at UFC level.
“I text Dana after the fight, and I haven’t seen what he said at the press conference, (and) I don’t even know if he said anything yet. I said, ‘Thank you for everything, I appreciate it,’ and he was like, ‘I was expecting a retirement speech,’” Lauzon said.
“I said, ‘Never make a decision when you’re emotional, (and) maybe that was the last one, but maybe not, we’ll see.’ Then he didn’t say anything, and then after the fact, the next day, I saw a thing about ‘I’m going to make Lauzon retire.’
“I’m not going to argue with (White), but I just sent him a screenshot of the conversation,” he continued. “I’m just letting you know I am a man of my word. I never said I was done win, lose, or draw, the way you’re explaining it. It’s fine. I get it. They’re looking out for me. They don’t want to see me get beat up.
“I understand exactly what they’re saying, and they want it to end on a positive note, which it did, I understand. I’m just not ready to fully commit to the door being closed 100 percent.”
The 35-year-old UFC veteran holds a record of 28-15, with 26 wins by stoppage.