Joe Lauzon made a triumphant return to combat competition in his hometown this past weekend, but it didn't happen without the UFC trying to talk him out of it.
Almost seven years since his last UFC fight, Lauzon, 42, came back to successfully try his hand in bareknuckle boxing on Saturday night at BKFC Boston from historic Fenway Park.
During an appearance Monday on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Lauzon explained that he wasn't sure about the terms of his UFC contract allowing him to sign with another promotion, so he reached out to clarify and heard back from chief business officer Hunter Campbell, who wasn't too thrilled about the situation.
"Hunter basically called me and said, 'Hey, look, why are you doing this? This is the stupidest thing ever,'"
Lauzon said of his conversation with Campbell. "'You should not be doing bareknuckle. If it's a money thing, we'll help you out, we'll put you on grappling (UFC BJJ), we'll do something with you. We don't want to see you taking punches because you need money or something like that. We want to look out for you.' Blah, blah, blah."
While Lauzon appreciated the expressed concern from Campbell, he made it clear that his desire to fight wasn't about the money.
"It's not that I needed money. It wasn't like that," Lauzon said. "… I told him, 'It's because I want to fight at Fenway. That's what I care about. I've never done bareknuckle boxing; I've never done bareknuckle anything. I've never boxed anything. It's an outdoor show. There's so many variables here that could not work out at all, but I'd like to do it. I'd like to try and make a go at it.'"
And so Lauzon did and came away with a second-round TKO win over Stash Kuykendall in front of his hometown fans.
Lauzon indicated BKFC Boston should be the last time he competes but said he'll always listen to offers and entertain something if it makes sense.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joe Lauzon reveals UFC exec Hunter Campbell's discouraging remarks on BKFC comeback
