Joe Lauzon committed to not let Jonathan Pearce make a name off him at UFC Boston

BOSTON – Joe Lauzon knows he’s got a big experience advantage going into Friday night.

He takes on Jonathan Pearce at UFC on ESPN 6 in Boston, and he’s not about to become a stepping stone.

“I’m expecting a tough fight, but also I know where he’s coming from,” Lauzon said Tuesday after an open workout session. “Like, I was the kid that was the underdog. He’s not as much of an underdog, but being an underdog, coming up fighting someone with a lot of experience, fighting a veteran, and I understand how you can make a name off of that. So I’m very committed to not letting that happen to me on Friday night.”

Lauzon (27-15 MMA, 14-12 UFC) is currently on a three-fight losing skid, and admitted Friday might be his last fight. His most recent loss to Chris Gruetzemacher in April 2018, in which his corner stopped the fight at the end of the second round, didn’t sit well with him.

He wasn’t about to let that be his last memory in the sport, so he decided to take some time off, which he believes is exactly what he needed.

“We always take it fight by fight,” Lauzon said. “I can think of a whole lot of things that are worse than having my last fight in Boston, so we’ll see how it goes. I feel really good. I don’t feel old. Everyone’s always saying, ‘Oh, you’re old.’ I’m 35, but I understand I had a lot of fights in the UFC. But I think we’re a little bit smarter than most people.”

Lauzon, who runs his own gym filled with some of New England’s best talent, like featherweight contender Calvin Kattar and Rob Font, thinks he’s set without fighting.

“I don’t need to fight,” Lauzon said. “I was just really unhappy how the last fight went. That couldn’t be the last one. This is maybe the last one – but not necessarily.

“We have a really good stable of guys there – all good training partners – so I don’t have to come here and fight. I could focus on my gym more. My gym would probably do a little better if I did focus on my gym more, but for like the last 10 months or so, I’ve been so focused on fighting. But I’m doing it because I want to do it, not because I have to.”

He takes on Pearce (9-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who secured a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, and is riding a five-fight winning streak – all by finish.

“He’s a long, rangy kickboxer,” Lauzon said. “(He has) a lot of volume – (the) kid’s tough, super tough. Anyone who gets to this point is super tough. (He) had a great fight on the Contender Series.”