UFC veteran Joe Lauzon, who once held the record for most post-fight bonus awards, explained why he is making a return to active competition.
Lauzon, who has not competed in the UFC since a 2019 TKO win over Jonathan Pearce, returns to combat sports when he fights at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s August 29 event at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
For the 42-year-old Lauzon, an MA native, it was the appeal of fighting at the legendary Fenway Park that was the catalyst for why he is stepping back into the ring for the first time in seven years.
Joe Lauzon Explains Combat Sports Comeback
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Lauzon explained why he is returning to combat sports. According to “J-Lau,” he got a text from a friend at BKFC asking if he would be interested in bare-knuckle fighting. When the friend mentioned the fight was taking place at Fenway Park, Lauzon was in.
“(A friend from BKFC) basically texted me (saying), ‘Are you interested in doing BKFC?’ Not really. 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,” Lauzon said.
UFC Had to Sign off on Joe Lauzon’s BKFC Fight
According to Lauzon, even though he has not competed inside the Octagon since 2019, he still needed the UFC legal team to sign off on him competing for BKFC as he is still technically under a UFC contract.
To that end, he spoke to UFC CBO Hunter Campbell, who gave him the thumbs up to compete for BKFC at Fenway Park.
“I don’t exactly know what the legality of it is. 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,” Lauzon said.
“I talked to Hunter 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.”
BKFC 92: Stewart vs. Gigliotti takes place on Saturday, August 29 at Fenway Park. Lauzon does not yet have an opponent named, but he will be on the card.
UFC Veteran Joe Lauzon Explains Comeback