Donald Cerrone is holding out hope that maybe one day he’ll share the octagon with Joe Lauzon.
Despite two failed bookings and UFC president Dana White saying he won’t re-book the fight, “Cowboy” would still like to get a contract signed with Lauzon’s name on it. The two fan-favorite fighters were scheduled to meet in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas, but Lauzon was forced to pull out of the fight the morning of the event due to a knee injury.
“Joe texted me (on Saturday morning) and said, ‘Sorry, brother. I can’t stand on my leg,’ and I was like, ‘Well, we’re (1-1) now, ain’t we?'” Cerrone told ESPN. “Joe is a game dude, so it’s not like he’s making something up. I know Joe just wouldn’t pull anything, so heal up brother, and we’ll make it happen one day.”
This is the second time the lightweight booking fell through the same day of the event. Cerrone (36-16 MMA, 23-13 UFC) and Lauzon (28-15 MMA, 15-12 UFC) originally were scheduled to fight at UFC 274 in May, but Cerrone fell ill the morning of fight day due to suspected food poisoning.
Despite the two failed attempts to make the fight happen, Cerrone still wants a third booking.
“Of course (I’d like that fight),” Cerrone said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with his knee or how long it’s going to take, but we’re already in the talks. We’ll hear real soon.”
White said the UFC already offered Cerrone a fight for July, but he turned it down since he just went through a weight cut for the Lauzon fight that fell through.
The bout with Lauzon was supposed to be Cerrone’s return to 155 pounds. He competed at welterweight in his past four outings and hasn’t fought at lightweight since a loss to Justin Gaethje in 2019.
Cerrone wants to stick to 155 pounds in his return.
“They offered me one (fight) really soon, and I said, ‘We’re going to have to talk about a catchweight for sure.’ I’ve shown I can make the weight back-to-back, so it’s not the weight. So we’ll see.”
