UFC fans will have to wait a little longer to see the matchup between Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that due to health issues, Lauzon will no longer be able to compete in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Austin fight card. Ariel Helwani was first to report the bout’s cancellation.
Welterweights Tim Means and Kevin Holland will now compete 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 appeared at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins after Lauzon was dealing with cramps following the official weigh-in Friday morning, which was announced by the UFC.
The pairing between veteran bonus collectors was originally supposed to take place at May’s UFC 274 event, but Cerrone was forced to withdraw the day of the card due to an illness.
Lauzon was set to make his 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 snapped a three-fight skid.
Cerrone has been out of action since May 2021 when he suffered a knockout loss to Alex Morono, which dropped his record to 0-5 with one no contest in his past six appearances in the UFC.
No word on if the bout will be once again rescheduled for a future UFC event.