Joe Lauzon never retired.
Let’s start there. There were more than a few curious reactions to the news that Lauzon was going to make his bare-knuckle fighting debut in August — a full seven years after his last appearance in the UFC. Lauzon repeatedly stated after his win over Jonathan Pearce in 2019 that he wasn’t calling it a career, but he was only interested in competing again for the right opportunities.
In 2022, Lauzon found that opening when the UFC tried to book him against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
However, a pair of cancellations led to the promotion scrapping the bout all together. For all intents and purposes, the now 42-year-old Massachusetts’ native was fine if he never fought again. Then he got an unexpected call with an offer he never saw coming.
“[A friend from BKFC] basically texted me [saying], ‘Are you interested in doing BKFC?’
“Not really,” Lauzon said he answered back when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I don’t love the idea of the extra cutting, hurt hands, not really that fun. Then he’s like, ‘What if it’s at Fenway?’ OK, now I’m interested.
“We went back and forth a little bit. I think it’s cool. It’s awesome. It’s a really good opportunity. I fought at the TD Garden three times. But Fenway Park is just at a whole different level. That’s what really got me. The fact that it’s at Fenway.”
Just before the news broke that he had signed with the promotion, BKFC announced a first-of-its-kind event with a fight being held at the historic Fenway Park on Aug. 29. It was the allure of fighting at “The Cathedral of Boston” that got Lauzon excited about competing again.
Add to that, Lauzon was happy to dispel any rumor that he had called it a career somewhere over the past seven years.
“There has never been fights at Fenway, the actual park, so that’s really cool,” Lauzon said. “That’s exactly what I said — I’m not going to say I’m retired because things pop up. I hate it when guys say oh yeah, I’m retired and then they come back. That’s not what happened here. I think there was a little bit of confusion. Because after the last fight in Boston, I fought Jonathan Pearce and I said hey look, I’m not saying I’m done, I’m not saying I’m retired. I don’t know what’s going to happen, we’ll see how it goes.
“Then in the media press conference after, Dana [White] said ‘Lauzon told me win or lose, he was done.’ That’s not what I said. I said if I get my butt kicked here in Boston, then I would be done. But I did not get my butt kicked. I did really well so I left the door open.”
Lauzon was also disappointed he never got the chance to scrap with Cerrone after putting in a pair of training camps to get ready for that fight.
Before he could sign on the dotted line with BKFC, Lauzon first had to check in with his old bosses at the UFC because despite his long layoff, he was never released from his contract, which still had fights remaining.
Lauzon ended up on a call with UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell to explain why he wanted permission to compete in BKFC.
“I don’t exactly know what the legality of it is,” Lauzon said. “I emailed the UFC and I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s the status of my contract? What is my status?’ They called me back right away like, ‘What are you trying to do? Every time your name comes up as an active guy on the roster, it’s always like don’t worry about him, he’s good, don’t worry about him, he’s OK.’ They didn’t cut me out of respect, maybe more than anything.
“I talked to Hunter [Campbell] on the phone and told him what I wanted to do and he’s like, ‘We love you, every time you come up everyone has great things to say about you. Sean Shelby doesn’t say good stuff about anybody but Sean loves you, Joe Silva loved you.’ Everyone going back loves me. [Hunter said], ‘If it’s a money thing, they would help me out and do this or that.’ But I’m like that’s not what it is. It’s Fenway. It’s literally Fenway. If they could do a show at Fenway, I’d be on it.”
The UFC ultimately signed off on the fight and Lauzon was ready to go.
But to double down on that conversation with Campbell prior to inking his contract, Lauzon makes it clear that his return to action has absolutely nothing to do with financial issues.
“Listen, I’m doing great with my gym on its own,” Lauzon said. “We just had that big UFC lawsuit, everyone got paid out on that. It’s not about the money. I promise you, it’s not about the money.
“It’s about Fenway. It’s a really, really good opportunity and I’m excited for it.”
As far as the future goes, Lauzon won’t speculate beyond Aug. 29 because he’s carrying the same attitude into this fight as he did when he won in the UFC in 2019 and got ready for Cerrone in 2022.
“I hate it when people start making plans for after the fight,” Lauzon said. “Let’s see how this fight plays out, good, bad, whatever, and see how it goes and if I like it, don’t like it, whatever.”
More than anything, Lauzon knew he couldn’t pass up the chance to fight at Fenway Park in what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I know if I passed up on it when this fight’s at Fenway, I’d be kicking myself,” Lauzon said. “I’d be upset. We’ll give it a shot and see how it goes.”
