Lauzon signs for BKFC at Fenway Park seven years after last UFC fight

Joe Lauzon will step into the bare-knuckle ring at Fenway Park on August 29, signing with BKFC seven years after his last UFC outing — a 2019 win over Jonathan Pearce — and firmly rejecting any suggestion he ever retired from the sport.

The 42-year-old Massachusetts native told MMA Fighting that his initial reaction to a BKFC approach was lukewarm at best. “Not really,” Lauzon said he replied when a friend from the promotion first floated the idea. “I don’t love the idea of the extra cutting, hurt hands, not really that fun.” The conversation changed the moment Fenway Park entered it. “Then he’s like, ‘What if it’s at Fenway?’ OK, now I’m interested.”

Lauzon, who has fought three times at the TD Garden, said the iconic baseball stadium represented something categorically different. “There has never been fights at Fenway, the actual park, so that’s really cool,” he said. “That’s exactly what I said — I’m not going to say I’m retired because things pop up.”

He was also keen to correct the public record on how his UFC tenure ended. After the Pearce fight, UFC president Dana White publicly stated that Lauzon had told him he was done win or lose. Lauzon disputes that account. “That’s not what I said. I said if I get my butt kicked here in Boston, then I would be done. But I did not get my butt kicked. I did really well so I left the door open.”

A potential comeback had briefly materialised in 2022 when the UFC attempted to book Lauzon against Donald Cerrone, only for the bout to be cancelled twice before the promotion scrapped it entirely. Lauzon said he was disappointed to have put in two full training camps without ever getting the fight.

Before finalising the BKFC deal, Lauzon had to seek clearance from the UFC. Despite the seven-year gap since his last appearance, he had never been formally released from his contract, meaning his old employer had a say in whether he could compete elsewhere.