Kevin Lee News

Drake Riggs - April 10, 2018

If there’s a topic, you can bet that top UFC lightweight contender, Kevin Lee will most likely have an opinion on it. The young and outspoken 16-3 155-pounder has made his goals quite evident since entering the world’s premier MMA organization: win the title to become a world champion.

Justin Golightly - March 22, 2018

Kevin Lee returns back into action at UFC Atlantic City against Edson Barboza, in what is sure to be a wild scrap. Both men will be looking to bounce back after their big losses to elite competition, but Lee doesn’t intend on just stopping there. Kevin Lee reveals the plan is to take care of Barboza in more devastating fashion than both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, then fight Nurmagomedov. “I think me and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] are the fight to make after this. […] I think I’m still the marquee fight in this division for anybody. You know, me and Khabib will sell big, me and Tony [Ferguson] got a rematch that will sell big, me and [Conor] McGregor will sell big. So, it’s a lot of big fights left on the horizon. […] 100 percent after this one, I’ll beat Edson [Barboza] in New Jersey and then I’ll go out there and beat Khabib in Russia. And then, who knows, maybe we’ll throw a stadium show with Conor McGregor in the future in Ireland.”

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

UFC 223 lightweight title challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov and recent UFC interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee have had plenty to say about each other recently. The pair’s latest feud began when Lee dumped all over Nurmagomedov’s UFC 219 win over Edson Barboza.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee is currently booked for a dangerous test opposite Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 12 on April 21. Though this bout is at the forefront of his focus at the moment, Lee also believes he’ll be fighting current UFC lightweight champ and MMA superstar Conor McGregor by the end of the year. “That fight happens at the end of the year, me and Conor,” Lee said at a UFC 222 media scrum, (h/t BloodyElbow). “I think that’s the fight that everybody’s been looking forward to, and is right there within striking distance.”

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2018

At this point, oddsmakers favor undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov to beat all of his rivals – that includes Conor McGregor. In the opinion of lightweight contender Kevin Lee, however, McGregor actually stands a good chance of knocking Nurmagomedov out. This, Lee says, is based more on the holes in Nurmagomedov’s game than McGregor’s skill. Lee gave his assessment of this fight in a chat with Jim Edwards and Danny Austin of MMANytt.com.

Justin Golightly - February 24, 2018

After a wild firestorm created by Conor McGregor revealing that he offered to step in to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222, fans were baffled and Edgar’s coach and manager were pissed off to say the least. After refuting McGregor’s claims, Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz said he requested a new division be created: The 165-pound division. This isn’t the first time the weight class has been talked about. Super lightweight interests more than just the Champ Champ™ supposedly looking for a third title, there’s a whole potential top five who are waiting for it to be formed. When conor called the ufc he asked them create a 165lb belt. He thinks @danawhite was born yesterday. This is fact. Waiting for response Mr. Helwani. #BeefIsReal

Drake Riggs - February 22, 2018

It’s been a rough last couple of months for “the Mo-Town Phenom”. Recent interim title challenger and top 10 lightweight contender, Kevin Lee has suffered two big losses since October. The first being in his shot at interim gold against Tony Ferguson as UFC 216’s headliner, the second being the death of his longtime coach, Robert Follis. But it wasn’t all bad for Lee who has remained positive and used the experiences to grow and learn and has also joined a big-time management group in Creative Artists Agency(CAA).

Jordan Colbert - February 22, 2018

In the main event of the UFC’s Sunday return to Austin, Texas, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone rebounded from a three-fight skid with a first-round TKO victory over Yancy Medeiros, who was riding a three-fight win streak coming into his first ever UFC Main Event contest. Following the bout, Cerrone was relieved to have finally gotten back in the win column and, when asked what was next for the man tied for the most wins in UFC history, he set the record straight. He intends to return to the UFC’s lightweight division for one last run at the title. In particular, Cerrone called out Khabib Nurmagomedov, a fighter he was scheduled to fight against in May of 2015 before Nurmagomedov withdrew due to injury. Nurmagomedov is currently scheduled for a main event bout at UFC 223 against current interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, so that bout is unlikely, but there are many other matchups at lightweight that fans could easily get behind for Donald Cerrone.

Tom Taylor - February 1, 2018

Earlier this month, fan favorite UFC lightweight Nate Diaz drove the MMA community into a crazed frenzy, asserting in a Instagram post that he planned to end his long hiatus, and return to the perilous Octagon this spring. Sick of sitting around waiting for you fuckers to do shit there’s no excitement in this fight shit step your games up I’ll see u around may,June. Sincerely The Real Champ 🖕🏼

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

Kevin Lee on Nate Diaz. pic.twitter.com/XkDNnqg4GB — MMA Digest (@themmadigest) January 27, 2018

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

In the wake of his submission loss to UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee has been looking for ways to freshen up his game. He’s hoping renowned MMA coach Firas Zahabi can help him with that. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Lee explained that he’ll be doing some work with Zahabi over the coming weeks.

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

Having recently come up short in an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, “The Motown Phenom” Kevin Lee is eager to get back on track and reinsert himself into the title mix. While he was briefly discussed as a possible opponent for former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje, Gaethje has now been targeted for a scrap with Dustin Poirier. Now that this Gaethje-Poirier fight has been scheduled, Lee feels he might end up in a fight with Edson Barboza, who recently lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Jason Kindschy - January 18, 2018

BJPENN Radio is back tonight at 9PM ET/6PM PT two great guests! 9:15PM ET- First up, former title challenger and No. 7 ranked lightweight in the UFC, “The Motown Phenom” Kevin Lee. Months removed from a losing effort against Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title, Kevin now looks to make the most out of 2018 and get back to shot at gold. We’ll recap the Ferguson bout, discuss potential match-ups moving forward, his reaction to the announcement of Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov for Brooklyn in April, and McGregor possibly being stripped of the title. Also, Kevin opens up about the loss of his longtime coach and friend, Robert Follis.

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2018

Violence, violence and more violence. If that’s the game then Justin Gaethje is the name! Gaethje was last seen in action when he took on former UFC and Bellator Lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 in what was a crazy fight to say the least. But that’s nothing new for the man known as “the Highlight”. Gaethje recently spoke about who he might like to fight next and one name that came to mind was that of recent title challenger, Kevin Lee. Today on Sirius XM’s MMA Tonight broadcast, “the MoTown Phenom” responded. .@MoTownPhenom responds to @Justin_Gaethje's callout: "I like easy money. Justin likes to take a lot of damage. I like to give a lot of damage. It seems like a good matchup to me." @MieshaTate @realOCsports pic.twitter.com/5Y1z1DVgdd

Justin Golightly - January 2, 2018

Even with a loss, Justin Gaethje has had an incredible year. He walked away from his five-time defended WSOF lightweight title to finally sign on with the UFC, much to the rallying cries of fans and the blessing of the violence gods. He put on MMA Fighting’s ‘Fight of the Year’ with Michael Johnson, then had another ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate with Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218. For now, he’s going to let the body and brain rest, but he’s already contemplating who he wants to fight next. Who better than Kevin Lee, the last fighter to lose to interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson? “First time I ever met [Kevin Lee], he was nice. Then he talked sh-t saying I was fan-boying over him. He doesn’t know what respect is. I’ll never show him respect again, that’s for sure. I just like punching loudmouths in the face. I’m sure I’ll get the itch [to fight again] sooner rather than later. I said I wanted to wait around until June, July, but I’m sure I’ll get the itch sooner. It’s too soon [right now], but we’ll see how things play out. I might want to beat up Kevin Lee, that kid over there I want to beat up.” — Justin Gaethje speaking today on The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the next fight of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. In the opinion of lightweight contender Kevin Lee, however, McGregor will probably return to the Octagon to battle interim champion Tony Ferguson in the new year. “I think he comes back, he fights Tony,” Lee said on a recent episode of MMA Junkie Radio. “He don’t want to, but I feel like at some point they’re going to force him to. Either that, or something crazy is going to happen there. But at least I think everything that I’ve seen and all the little whispers that I’ve heard, he comes back, he fights Tony.”

Justin Golightly - December 5, 2017

Kevin Lee and Conor McGregor have something in common: They’re both due for a comeback. Lee fell short against interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson back at UFC 216, but the UFC hasn’t seen McGregor since he held both the featherweight and lightweight belts over his head in Madison Square Garden last year. Kevin Lee vows to fight sooner rather than later, offering a scolding for the organization’s Champ Champ and warns he’s got multiple beatings ahead of him. “Yeah, that boy [Conor McGregor is] f-cking up. I don’t know, if the rumors are true or whatever, he better get his sh-t together because he’s got a long mountain to climb. People are saying oh, is he going to fight, is he going to do this? I take the man for his word. He say he a fighter. I think he’s gonna’ come back. He has to come back and try to defend that title. He’s got a long mountain to climb up there. He’s got Tony [Ferguson] as soon as he comes back. Tony’s going to beat the hell out of him. As soon as he loses that one, I’m going to beat the hell out of him and then he’s going to be down in the dirt.”

Tom Taylor - October 17, 2017

On October 7, in the main event of UFC 216, 25-year-old lightweight contender Kevin Lee’s title dreams were put on hold, as he was submitted by Tony Ferguson in an interim lightweight title fight. Ferguson, meanwhile, immediately turned his focus to undisputed UFC lightweight champion and MMA megastar Conor McGregor. As one of the lightweight division’s top contenders, Lee’s insight on a potential fight between Ferguson and McGregor is particularly interesting. Lee made his pick for this fight on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour: