Joe Lauzon Says He Limits Himself After Blows To The Head

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Joe Lauzon said that he forces himself to refrain from any kind of training after getting knocked out to prevent any more damage to his head. He was KO’d by Clay Guida and given a 45-day suspension by the athletic commission, but he had already forced himself to hold off on training. Here are highlights:

On his decision to bench himself: “I didn’t do anything for a month and a half, two months almost. I worked out with (UFC fighters) Calvin Kattar and Rob Font a couple of times. It was kind of lighter sparring, so I get hit a little bit – but not hard. But I didn’t do anything – no getting hit in the head at all. That was a big thing. And rest.”

On how more fighters should take time to rest: “Resting is so overlooked by guys. I hear about guys all the time, whether they’re in the UFC or trying to get to the UFC or whatever, they get knocked out in the gym, or they go down really, really hard. And then a week later, or a couple days later, or the next round, they’re back in there. I think that’s so irresponsible. They have to take better care of themselves. For us, we took a month, month-and-a-half. We’re not messing with anything. It sucks sometimes being on the sidelines, and feeling like, ‘Oh, I could train right now.’ But you can’t. You have to give your brain time to rest.”

On his plans after he retires: “My gym doesn’t make a ton of money because my gym is set up in a way to give me the best training environment. When I decide to stop fighting, my gym will make a lot more money because I’ll teach a lot more classes. I don’t want to give my school something right now and have to take it away every time a fight camp pops up. They aren’t happy that I gave it to them for three months – they’re pissed when I take it away for two months.”