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Cerrone-Lauzon canceled for 2nd time

Chris Unger / UFC / Getty

The UFC canceled the lightweight bout between Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon for the second time, UFC officials told ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

The pair were slated as the co-main event in Saturday's UFC Fight Night. Lauzon took part in the event's weigh-in Friday but didn't attend the ceremonial weigh-in due to illness, according to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.

In a video posted to his Instagram page, Lauzon explained why he withdrew from the fight.

"So I'm not fighting 'Cowboy' Cerrone tonight," Lauzon said. "The freakiest, weirdest thing ever. I weigh in officially. Everything is fine. I go to sit down in the chairs where all the fighters are, and I go to put my socks on ... I turn my knee out, and my knee locks up."

Lauzon added that he's dealt with meniscus issues for years but couldn't loosen his knee in this instance following hours of treatment.

He also explained why he missed the ceremonial weigh-in.

"The reason I didn't go to weigh-ins yesterday was not because of cramps. ... I literally can't put any weight on my left knee," Lauzon said. "I can't even stand. I can't fight."

UFC president Dana White said Saturday that he doesn't plan to rebook the Cerrone-Lauzon bout again, according to MMAFighting's Damon Martin.

Lauzon and Cerrone were initially scheduled to face off at UFC 274 in May. However, the promotion called off the bout on the day of the fight after Cerrone got sick.

Lauzon expressed disappointment that the fight needed to be canceled again.

"This is heartbreaking because we’ve done a six-month camp. First, it was 'Cowboy' couldn't fight, now I can’t fight. Just absolutely horrible," he said. "Weighed in, totally fine, ready to go, and my knee locks up putting on socks. My brain can’t even process it."

Cerrone (36-16-2, 10 KOs) hasn't fought since suffering a first-round TKO loss against Alex Morono in May 2021.

Lauzon (28-15, 9 KOs) was set to make his first appearance in the Octagon since his electric knockout of Jonathan Pearce in October 2019.

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