Lauzon signs with BKFC for Fenway Park debut despite unresolved UFC contract status

Joe Lauzon will step into the BKFC ring at Fenway Park in Boston on August 29, marking his first competitive appearance since 2019 — but the lightweight veteran says the question of whether he remains under UFC contract has yet to be definitively answered.

Lauzon (28-15) signed a multi-fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship after reaching out to UFC executive Hunter Campbell to explain his intentions. The UFC responded with a letter granting him permission to compete on the Fenway card, yet Lauzon says the language stopped short of a formal release.

“I emailed the UFC, I’m like, ‘What’s the status of my contract?’… I think they didn’t cut me out of respect more than anything,” Lauzon told MMA Fighting. “I talked to Hunter on the phone and told him what I wanna do. He’s like, ‘We love you. Every time you come out, everyone has good things to say about it. Sean Shelby doesn’t say good things about anybody, but Sean loves you.’… They said they’re gonna send a letter to me and the BKFC… Hunter’s text was kind of very specific, like, ‘You are free to go do BKFC on the Fenway card.’ But I don’t know if that means I’m fully released or what.”

The ambiguity is notable given that Lauzon has not competed since 2019, yet his UFC contract never officially expired — a situation he attributes to the organisation retaining him out of goodwill rather than any expectation of a return to the Octagon.

Lauzon spent more than a decade in the UFC, compiling a 15-12 record and earning a reputation as one of the promotion’s most entertaining fighters. He still holds the record for the third-most finishes in UFC lightweight history with 13, a tally that underlines why his name carries weight even after six years away from competition.

An opponent for his BKFC debut has not yet been announced. The event takes place at Fenway Park, home of MLB’s Boston Red Sox, in Lauzon’s native New England — a fitting stage for what amounts to a homecoming fight in an entirely new discipline.