UFC star doubtful about contract, Naoya Inoue's fight ends abruptly, Alex Pereira sparks beef with Dricus du Plessis: MMA News Roundup
A UFC veteran believes he has no way out of his current contract, not that he's too eager to do so. Elsewhere, Naoya Inoue's latest title defense ends unexpectedly.
Catch up with the biggest updates from the combat sports world with Sportskeeda MMA's News Roundup.
"I don’t exactly know a valid way to get out of the contract" - Joe Lauzon
Joe Lauzon hasn't fought since Oct. 2019 and doesn't know how to fight out his UFC contract. He was booked for a return against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone twice but both times the fight fell through due to injuries.
He has since asked for a fight against Chase Hooper but was instead told to retire by Dana White. Speaking with MMA Fighting, Lauzon shared that he has no idea when he will fight in the UFC next:
"Everyone’s always asking, like, ‘Oh, are you going to fight again? Are you not going to fight again?’ and my answer is always kind of ambiguous - I don’t really know. I wanted to fight Chase Hooper last summer when they were going to come to Boston, but that didn’t work out; they didn’t want to do that."
He added:
"I don’t exactly know a valid way to get out of the contract - not that I’m trying to - but I think that there’s a bunch of reasons it can kind of freeze or get prolonged, right? So I think it’s if you turn down a fight, if you are injured, or if you retire."
Lauzon added that he's not looking to fight at any other promotion, which is why he doesn't care as much about the lack of fights in the UFC.
Naoya Inoue wins against TJ Doheny via TKO
On Tuesday, Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed super bantamweight status against TJ Doheny in front of a disciplined home crowd in Tokyo, Japan. However, the fight did not end as anyone had hoped.
After six rounds of action-filled exchange majorly dominated by Inoue, although there were moments where Doheny's awkward southpaw style shone through. By the end of the sixth round, Doheny's body seemed to not be in the best shape.
The 37-year-old failed to continue seemingly due to a stiff back as the seventh round started. The referee waved the fight off, announcing Inoue the winner via TKO in a rather anti-climactic manner.
Watch how the fight ended below:
Take a look at the round-by-round updates here.
Alex Pereira and Dricus du Plessis trade barbs online over UFC middleweight title
Alex Pereira took to Instagram on Tuesday to confirm that he was planning to make a middleweight comeback and fight Dricus du Plessis for the UFC belt:
"I’m focused on my next fight and I’m going prepared but you never know what can happen, so regardless of the result, I want to go down one more time to the middleweight and go for the belt. Hey Dricus, bring your will to fight me so you can prove that you are better than me, with your public statement it is easy to make this happen, Chama."
Du Plessis responded on X that Pereira and Sean Strickland should settle their "domestic dispute" to decide who should be the top contender to challenge him for the UFC middleweight belt:
"@AlexPereiraUFC you and your boyfriend @SStricklandMMA can have a domestic dispute on who gets slept first."