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Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon is the kind of fight you could see at the top of a UFC card in 2012. Instead, we're seeing it open a pay-per-view in 2022. UFC 274 on May 7 is impressive from top to bottom, especially when you consider Cerrone vs. Lauzon may be a retirement fight for both legends.
Daniel Cormier broke UFC 274 down in his most recent YouTube video, and said:
"Donald Cerrone's fighting Joe Lauzon. Lauzon's been away for a while. Two guys from the same era. There's a lot of rumblings that 'Cowboy' may be walking away. It'd be a sad day for the world of mixed martial arts if the 'Cowboy' went away. Dude's been the old gunslinger, rolling around in the wild wild west, taking fights anytime, any place, anywhere. And if there's ever a time where you look towards the end, you look towards the end against a guy like Lauzon who was at the top during your heyday. A guy that was fighting the elite of the elite during your heyday. But Lauzon won his last ... a while ago. 2019. But he won it. 'Cowboy' hasn't won for a bit. Interesting match-up."
Watch Daniel Cormier's UFC 274 preview video below:
Leading up to this fight, Joe Lauzon blamed his absence on COVID-19, saying he had no interest in training for a fight when there was such a high chance of things going wrong and the bout being canceled.
As for Donald Cerrone, he's been largely absent from the spotlight leading up to UFC 274. Cerrone is currently on a 0-5-1 skid and probably doesn't want to discuss retirement in every interview leading up to this important career bout.
Joe Lauzon plans to blitz Donald Cerrone early at UFC 274
Donald Cerrone is a notoriously slow starter, something his past opponents have taken advantage of. Seven of his sixteen losses have come in the first round, and Joe Lauzon hopes to bring that number up to eight.
In an interview with Just Scrap Radio, Lauzon said:
“He’s really good, especially if you let him get going. If you let him get going and get his footwork, his rhythm, and get his timing and stuff like that he’s hell on wheels, he’s hard to deal with… I think if I can get on him early, that helps me. I think if I rush into it, he can catch me with something, I don’t want to run into a knee or a kick. If it goes later, I’m in really good shape, I’m ready to go 15 minutes. I think the earlier I get on him, the better it is for me.”
Odds on this fight initially opened wide with Donald Cerrone a -300 favorite to Joe Lauzon at +250. Now that fight week has arrived the odds have tightened significantly with Cerrone at -195 and Lauzon at +140.
