UFC fans will have to wait a little longer to see the matchup between Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon.
Several people with knowledge of the action plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Lauzon will no longer be able to compete in Saturday’s co-main event of the UFC Austin fight card due to health reasons. Ariel Helwani was the first to report the cancellation of the fight.
Welterweights Tim Means and Kevin Holland will now line up in the co-main event, while a bantamweight bout between Adrian Yanez and Tony Kelley, originally scheduled to close out the preliminary portion of the lineup, has been promoted to the main card opener.
Only Cerrone showed up for Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in after Lauzon struggled with cramps after Friday morning’s official weigh-in, announced by the UFC.
The pairing between veteran bonus collectors was originally scheduled to take place at the UFC 274 event in May, but Cerrone had to cancel the day of the card due to illness.
Lauzon was set to return to action for the first time since a memorable first-round TKO win over Jonathan Pearce in his hometown of Boston in October 2019, which resulted in a three-way sled.
Cerrone has been out of action since May 2021, when he suffered a KO loss to Alex Morono that lowered his record to 5-0 in his last six appearances in the UFC with a no contest.
No word on whether the fight will be rescheduled again for a future UFC event.