Dana White Says he Had “Deal” With Joe Lauzon That UFC Boston Would Mark Final Bout
By FCF Staff
After recording his 28th win at UFC Boston, Joe Lauzon was non-committal about his fighting future. But, according to UFC President Dana White, he had an agreement with the rugged vet that the card would mark his final bout.
Lauzon faced Johnathan Pearce at the event, and after taking the surging lightweight down in round one, he finished the fight with punches from above. Prior to the win, Lauzon had lost three straight fights.
During the post-fight presser, the 35-year-old Lauzon had this to say while discussing his future (quote via MMA Fighting):
“We’ll kind of see what happens. I’m not like, ‘This is definitely the last fight,’ but I’m also not saying I’m definitely going to do it again. Tonight was a great night, but I think too many guys kind of fall into the trap of like, they have a good fight, like ‘I’m back, here we go!’ I’m not there, but we’ll take it and we’ll see what happens. Maybe I fight in six months, maybe I fight in a year, maybe I’m done, who knows? I’m not going to commit to anything. I’ll stay in the USADA pool. I don’t mind. They come banging on my door every once in a while, no big deal. We’ll see what happens.”
But, while talking to the media after the card, White reported this:
“Me and Joe Lauzon had a deal that he would retire after this fight, win, lose, or draw,” White said. “And he didn’t do it.”
“What better way to go out than tonight?” White continued. “He beat a real guy tonight. He beat a tough guy that I bet a lot of people didn’t think he was gonna beat and he made it look easy.”
With the win, Lauzon moved his overall record to 28-15.