Longtime UFC Lightweight Will Retire if He Gets His ‘Butt Kicked’

Getty Joe Lauzon

“The Ultimate Fighter” season five competitor Joe Lauzon may enter the UFC’s Octagon for the last time later this month.

Lauzon, who has been a part of the promotion since 2006, will take on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone during UFC on ESPN 37 on June 18. The two were originally scheduled to battle at UFC 274 last month, however Cowboy was forced off of the card after falling ill.

Lauzon was recently featured on MMA Junkie Radio to chat about his upcoming fight. Lauzon called the lead-up to the Austin, Texas, event a “very grinding process” due to participating in back-to-back training camps.

“It could be the last one,” Lauzon said via the outlet. “I’m not saying that to try and tease people. It could be the last one, I have no idea. This is now almost like a second camp. We just did the entire ‘Cowboy’ camp for Phoenix, and now we’re doing like a shortened, six-week camp for Austin, Texas. So this is like a whole second fight. It feels like it’s been a whole second camp. It’s just been a lot of wear and tear, a very grinding process.”

Lauzon continued, “I’m not gonna say I’m retiring before a fight happens. I’m always gonna say I’m gonna make a choice as we go. I don’t have to fight. I’m fighting because I want to fight. I think it’ll be a great fight. I think I’ll do really well. I think it’ll be a good fight against ‘Cowboy,’ that’s why I’m gonna do this fight. If I did not think it was gonna go well, I wouldn’t have done the fight.”

Lauzon Said If He Gets His ‘Butt Kicked’ By Cerrone, He’ll Retire

Lauzon made it clear that if Cowboy defeats him in a devastating manner, he’ll hang up his gloves for good. But if things go his way, Lauzon may grace the battlefield again.

“I personally don’t want to put my wife through another (experience of) me getting my butt kicked or getting knocked out or something like that,” Lauzon said. “If it happened one more time, then that’s definitely the end of it. If I go out, and I fight ‘Cowboy,’ and he kicks me in the face, you don’t have to hear from me. I’m telling you right now, that will be the last fight.

“If I go out there and have an even fight with ‘Cowboy,’ and I don’t get beat up then maybe we’ll fight again. If I go out there, and I blow him out of the water, maybe we’ll fight again. But the next time you see a bad fight out of me, that’s definitely the last time. You don’t have to hear it from me that it’s the last time, but you just know that’s the last one.”

Lauzon Has Competed 27 Times Inside the Octagon

Lauzon hasn’t fought since October 2019 when he finished Jonathan Pearce via TKO. The win halted a three-fight losing streak.

The professional mixed martial artist has a record of 28-15, with 17 wins via submission and nine by KO/TKO.

With 27 UFC fights under his belt, Lauzon boasts wins over the likes of inaugural lightweight champion Jens Pulver, Jeremy Stephens, Diego Sanchez, Michael Chiesa, Jamie Varner and Takanori Gomi.