Joe Lauzon reveals he was denied final fight at UFC 292: ‘I was told my services were not needed’

LauzonDespite his best efforts, the UFC seemingly had no interest in booking Joe Lauzon for Saturday night’s highly anticipated return to Boston. With 27 fights inside the Octagon and more than 17 years with the promotion, ‘J-Lau’ is one of the UFC’s most tenured and respected fighters. Unfortunately, none of that mattered when Lauzon called […]

Lauzon

Despite his best efforts, the UFC seemingly had no interest in booking Joe Lauzon for Saturday night’s highly anticipated return to Boston.

With 27 fights inside the Octagon and more than 17 years with the promotion, ‘J-Lau’ is one of the UFC’s most tenured and respected fighters. Unfortunately, none of that mattered when Lauzon called the UFC in hopes of getting booked on Saturday night’s UFC 292 card.

During a Q&A session on Friday at TD Garden, Lauzon revealed that he had made multiple attempts to get booked on the card for what could have been the last fight of his career, but the UFC was simply not interested in acquiring his services.

“I tried. I tried. It didn’t work out,” Lauzon said. “… I texted many, many times. I was told my services were not needed. … I would’ve fought whoever, but I really wanted to fight Chase Hooper. He had just beat Nick Fiore, who is another local guy. I feel like it’d be a really good matchup for me. It could’ve maybe been the last one, but it just didn’t come together. I tried. I really, really tried, but it didn’t work out” (h/t MMA Junkie).

Joe Lauzon Remains Open to Returning to the Octagon

With his own business flourishing, Joe Lauzon has no need to fight anymore but he would like to take the opportunity to step inside the Octagon when everything seemingly lines up. ‘J-Lau’ thought UFC 292 would be that perfect opportunity, but the promotion seemingly disagreed. Despite the slight, Lauzon is not necessarily finished fighting, but he’s by no means chomping at the bit to get back in there either.

“I don’t need to fight, so whatever makes sense,” Lauzon said. “If the location, the date, the opponent, if it all makes sense, I’m 100 percent down to fight again. But my gym is doing great. I don’t need to fight. It’s one of those things I really like doing. If it makes sense, I’m down (and) I’ll do it again. If we’re done, we’re done. It doesn’t matter. We’ll see.”

With a 28-15 record, the Ultimate Fighter season five alumnus has nothing left to prove, but it’s undeniably nice to see a fighter from a largely bygone era still itching to get in there and compete. It’s just too bad the promotion didn’t feel the same way.

Lauzon Admits Missing Out On Last Cerrone Fight “Sucks”

UFC veteran Joe Lauzon has admitted disappointment at the fact that his desired Octagon meeting with Donald Cerrone is no longer a possibility. 2022’s answer to the cursed Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson matchup saw Lauzon and Cerrone fail …

UFC veteran Joe Lauzon has admitted disappointment at the fact that his desired Octagon meeting with Donald Cerrone is no longer a possibility. 2022’s answer to the cursed Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson matchup saw Lauzon and Cerrone fail to make it to the Octagon for their set bouts. After their scheduled UFC 274 clash…

Continue Reading Lauzon Admits Missing Out On Last Cerrone Fight “Sucks” at MMA News.

Lauzon Responds To White: It’s “Cowboy Or Bust” For Next UFC Fight

UFC veteran Joe Lauzon wants to make his previously scheduled fight with Donald Cerrone come to fruition and he isn’t interested in anyone else. Lauzon pulled out of his UFC Austin bout against Cerrone after his knee locked up on him shortly after weigh-ins. The two were supposed to fight earlier this year at UFC…

Continue Reading Lauzon Responds To White: It’s “Cowboy Or Bust” For Next UFC Fight at MMA News.

UFC veteran Joe Lauzon wants to make his previously scheduled fight with Donald Cerrone come to fruition and he isn’t interested in anyone else.

Lauzon pulled out of his UFC Austin bout against Cerrone after his knee locked up on him shortly after weigh-ins. The two were supposed to fight earlier this year at UFC 274 before Cerrone pulled out after suffering from food poisoning.

UFC President Dana White said following UFC Austin that the promotion wouldn’t attempt to book the Lauzon/Cerrone pairing for the third time. But Lauzon doesn’t seem interested in any other adversary at the moment.

During a recent interview with MMA on SiriusXM, Lauzon confirmed that Cerrone is the only potential opponent on his radar for a UFC return.

“I definitely want this fight now,” Lauzon said. “We spent too much time getting ready for Cowboy to not go and see it through. For me right now, it’s Cowboy or bust…. that’s the fight I want, I think that’s the fight he wants. I understand it sucks the way it’s worked out, and I’m sure Dana is upset with how it worked out. But I guarantee you Cowboy and I are way more upset because we’ve put in way more effort than the UFC has. I think it should still happen. I think just because it didn’t work the first two times, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work out the third time.”

Lauzon earned a shot in the UFC following an impressive run on The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5, competing alongside the likes of Nate Diaz and Manny Gamburyan. He’s earned wins over the likes of Michael Chiesa and Jeremy Stephens during his Octagon tenure.

Lauzon’s last fight came against Jonathan Pearce in Oct. 2019, earning a first-round TKO win. While the promotion doesn’t seem enthused with the idea of booking Lauzon/Cerrone once again, it seems that Lauzon is laser-focused on the matchup finally coming to fruition.

Do you think we’ll finally see Joe Lauzon vs. Donald Cerrone?

Continue Reading Lauzon Responds To White: It’s “Cowboy Or Bust” For Next UFC Fight at MMA News.

Watch: Joe Lauzon “Knee Works Again” After Watching DIY Video For “Tib-Fib Dislocation” Someone Sent Him On Instagram

Joe Lauzon, Donald CerroneJoe Lauzon was scheduled to face Donald Cerrone at UFC Austin. This past Saturday, Joe Lauzon was forced to withdraw from his planned outing with Donald Cerrone due to health issues. Lauzon was visibly absent from the ceremonial weigh-ins although he had made weight in the official ones. The 38-year-old was dealing with cramps and […]

Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone

Joe Lauzon was scheduled to face Donald Cerrone at UFC Austin.

This past Saturday, Joe Lauzon was forced to withdraw from his planned outing with Donald Cerrone due to health issues. Lauzon was visibly absent from the ceremonial weigh-ins although he had made weight in the official ones. The 38-year-old was dealing with cramps and later revealed he couldn’t move his leg.

The contest between the two grizzled veterans was called off in what can be considered a sacrifice to the MMA gods based on the firecracker of a card that fans got barring that one fight.

It marked the second time their bout had been canceled on fight day. The pair were supposed to compete last month at UFC 274 but the matchup was written off after Cerrone got food poisoning on the day of the event.

Joe Lauzon knee works again after watching video

In a bizarre turn of events, Joe Lauzon would later reveal on his Instagram that the knee injury he suffered had suddenly recovered after watching a video someone sent him.

“So you can’t make this up, but my knee works again,” Lauzon said. “Someone sent me a video maybe an hour ago on Instagram about like, ‘This sounds like something I deal with with my knee. You should check out this video.’ And it was 100 percent, everything was exactly the problem I was having.

“It was called a ‘tib-fib dislocation.’ So basically the bones in my leg were dislocated. That’s why we couldn’t get it back. So I did the exercise in the video and it popped back in. It’s insane. My leg fully works. I’m able to hop, walk, jump.

I literally could not put socks on, I couldn’t lift my foot off the bed, I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t put any weight on it, I couldn’t do anything the last day and a half. I had to try and hobble and I couldn’t even hop on one foot because I couldn’t take my foot shaking. It was horrible.” (h/t MMAFighting.com)

UFC President Dana White told reporters that he has no plans to make the fight happen again. He referred to the failed attempts at putting together Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson but did not reveal what’s next for the two seasoned professionals.

Do you want to see Joe Lauzon being booked against Donald Cerrone for a third time?

Dana White Won’t Rebook Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon A Third Time

Dana WhiteDana White has stated that the UFC will not attempt to book a fight between UFC veterans Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon for a third time. Cerrone and Lauzon were initially scheduled to face off at UFC 274. However, Cerrone fell ill due to food poisoning on the night of the fight, forcing the commentary […]

Dana White

Dana White has stated that the UFC will not attempt to book a fight between UFC veterans Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon for a third time.

Cerrone and Lauzon were initially scheduled to face off at UFC 274. However, Cerrone fell ill due to food poisoning on the night of the fight, forcing the commentary team to announce the news live on air.

The fight was immediately rebooked for UFC Austin, where it was slated to take place in the co-main event of the night. Both men weighed in and all seemed to be going to plan.

However, only Cerrone appeared at the ceremonial weigh-ins, with Brendan Fitzgerald announcing that Lauzon was suffering from cramps. Shortly after, it Lauzon announced that he would not be fighting, although it was not due to cramp. The lightweight veteran had damaged his knee shortly after the weigh-ins and was unable to walk on it.

Dana White Compares Joe Lauzon vs. Donald Cerrone To Khabib vs. Tony

In the UFC Austin post-fight interviews, Dana White was asked by the press if he would consider rebooking the veteran fight a third time. White was clear in his response, stating:

“That thing is getting like Tony (Ferguson) and Khabib (Nurmagomedov). No, I will not book that fight again.”

When asked what the immediate future holds for ‘Cowboy,’ White revealed that he had turned down a fight in July, and is instead hoping to fight in the latter half of the year.

“He just cut that weight yesterday,” White said. “We sit, and we wanted to see if he wanted to fight in July, but he doesn’t want to cut weight again, so he won’t fight in July. We’ll figure something else out with him.”