A veteran vs. veteran showdown is on tap for April.
Two UFC legends with 64 combined appearances between them are sharing the Octagon soon.
Nolan King of MMA Junkie reported on Friday that Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon are expected to meet at an upcoming UFC Fight Night event scheduled on April 30. The event does not have a location, venue or headliner announced yet. Additional reporting from Damon Martin of MMA Fighting revealed that verbal agreements are already in place.
‘Cowboy’ and ‘J-Lau’ have fought under the UFC banner for over a decade. Both men hold promotional and divisional records that include most post-fight bonus awards in UFC history and most finishes at lightweight.
Cerrone has not fought for nearly a year following his last appearance. The 38-year-old suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Alex Morono at UFC Vegas 26 this past May. The defeat to Morono not only extended a career-worst winless streak to 0-5-1 but also appeared to end his current run at welterweight for good. Cerrone will now return to lightweight, the division he recently earned a win in with a unanimous decision over Al Iaquinta at UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy over two years ago.
Lauzon has also been away for quite some time. The 37-year-old was in action at UFC on ESPN 6 in 2019, when he snapped a three-fight losing streak with a first-round technical knockout of Jonathan Pearce in front of a hometown crowd. Though UFC president Dana White indicated he would retire after the win, the veteran went on record to say he still wanted to fight. Lauzon has gotten his wish fulfilled and will make the walk again.
With Cerrone vs. Lauzon added, here is how the Fight Night event looks:
- Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon
- Cortney Casey vs. Antonina Shevchenko
- Mike Breeden vs. Natan Levy
- Francisco Figueiredo vs. Daniel da Silva
- Gina Mazany vs. Shanna Young