Joe Lauzon Will Retire When He Doesn’t Want to Train Anymore

Joe Lauzon spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Marcin Held at UFC Fight Night 103. Some highlights are below:

On considering retirement: “It depends on the day. Most days, I feel awesome. Every once and a while, especially during fight camp, I’ll wake up and be like, ‘Oh my god, what is going on?’ I feel like I’ve been in a car accident or something. Nothing major, but just sore stuff. Sore hands, sore knees, sore hands, sore neck. But most days I feel great. I really don’t feel any worse than when I started. I think if anything, I do a lot better job of taking care of my body. I limp around a lot less than I used to. I tackle situations a lot sooner.”

On limiting his contact to fight camps: “I’m not interested in getting hit in the head whatsoever. I’m not just sparring for the sake of sparring. There’s no need.”

On Held’s use of leglocks: “I think it’s not the smartest thing in a fight, because you’re on bottom and you get punched in the head. The reward is not usually worth the risk. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to take advantage of that. He’s going to go for leglocks, we’re going to defend them, and then I’m going to punch him. I think that’s going to add up. The smart plan is to stay away from the leglock stuff. Don’t play with fire more than you need to. Defend the leg locks and get away. But if we find ourself in a perfect situation, I think it would pretty awesome to submit this guy.”

On when he’ll retire: “I think it’s going to come down to, when am I not interested in going to the gym anymore – not interesting in training anymore. But right now, I love getting into the gym.””