Joe Lauzon gets UFC approval for BKFC bout at Fenway Park
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 2, 2026
UFC approval process
Joe Lauzon will fight for BKFC at Fenway Park in Boston after the UFC cleared him to move ahead with the bout. Lauzon said he still had to get approval because he remained under UFC contract when the opportunity came together, and he handled that process directly. He spoke with UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell about the fight, and Campbell responded with an offer to help him financially if money was the reason he wanted to compete again. Lauzon said that response came back positively and that UFC officials later told him they would send a letter confirming he could proceed. He said the UFC ultimately allowed him to take the BKFC fight. Even after that green light, he said he was not sure whether the move meant he had been fully released from his UFC contract or had only been given permission for this one bout. For now, Lauzon said that question can wait. He is focused only on the fight in Boston and on the chance to compete at Fenway Park, the place he wanted most when the discussion started.
Fenway Park motive
Lauzon said the Fenway Park setting drove the decision. He said the main reason he wanted the BKFC opportunity was to fight at Fenway Park, not to make money. He also said the bout was not part of an effort to restart his career. The setting carried the weight for him, and he said he wanted to be part of a meaningful fight in Boston. That is where the story of this bout begins for him, with the venue and the moment, not with the financial side or a larger career plan. Lauzon also said he never truly retired after his 2019 UFC win over Jonathan Pearce. In his view, the retirement talk had a narrow meaning. He said those comments meant he would have stopped only if he had been badly beaten in Boston. That detail puts his outlook on the fight in clearer focus. He wanted a specific kind of night, in a specific place, and he treated the Boston setting as the reason to move forward. The fight at Fenway Park became a chance to take part in something he viewed as meaningful, while keeping the decision tied to the location and the occasion rather than to any reset of his fighting life.
Next steps ahead
Lauzon said he will sort out what comes next after he sees how the Fenway Park appearance goes. That approach leaves his future open, but his present priority is narrow. He said he is focused only on the upcoming BKFC bout for now, and he is not trying to map out the next stage before he steps in. The uncertainty around his UFC status also remains part of the picture, since he does not know whether the organization gave him a full release or just cleared him for this specific fight. Even so, he said that uncertainty does not change his immediate plan. He got the approval he needed, he has the fight he wanted at Fenway Park and he knows the chance he wanted most is in front of him. From there, he will wait to see how the night plays out before deciding what his next move should be. The fight in Boston is the center of the story for him. Everything else can wait until after he finds out what the Fenway Park appearance looks like and what it means for the road that follows.
