Donald Cerrone out of UFC 274 vs. Joe Lauzon due to fight-day illness

Donald Cerrone won’t be fighting Saturday at UFC 274.

Cerrone (36-16 MMA, 23-13 UFC) had to pull out of his lightweight bout against Joe Lauzon (28-15 MMA, 15-12 UFC) in Phoenix due to a non-COVID fight-day illness. The news was announced during the UFC 274 early prelims. There was no mention of whether or not the bout will be rescheduled for a later date.

The welterweight fight between Randy Brown (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and Khaos Williams (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was moved from the ESPN-broadcast prelims to open the main card on pay-per-view.

Cerrone, who holds a share of the record for most wins in UFC history, was looking to snap out of the worst losing skid of his career. The 38-year-old is on a six-fight winless streak that includes five losses (four by finish) and a no contest. Cerrone’s most recent win came in May 2019 when he dominated Al Iaquinta for a unanimous decision.

Lauzon was looking to return for his first fight since an October 2019 first-round TKO of Jonathan Pearce.

With the change, the UFC 274 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje – for lightweight title
• Champ Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza – for women’s strawweight title
• Michael Chandler vs. Tony Ferguson
• Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Randy Brown vs. Khaos Williams

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

• Danny Roberts vs. Francisco Trinaldo
• Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont
• Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell
• Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5:30 p.m. ET)

• Andre Fialho vs. Cameron VanCamp
• Tracy Cortez vs. Melissa Gatto
• Kleydson Rodrigues vs. CJ Vergara
• Ariane Carnelossi vs. Loopy Godinez
• Fernie Garcia vs. Journey Newson