Kevin Lee explains why he is retiring from MMA at age 30

Kevin Lee has opened up on why he decided to retire at age 30.

Lee surprised many on Tuesday morning when he took to the new social media platform Threads to announce his retirement. After the short post, ‘The Motown Phenom’ took to Instagram to detail why he decided to retire from MMA at just 30 years old. Even though he is walking away from the sport, Kevin Lee says he is happy with his career as he never backed away from any challenge, but injuries have caused him to retire.

 

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Kevin Lee details his retirement

“Okay, to make a long story short, I’m deciding to retire from MMA and the UFC. It’s been 12 years, 12 long years of me being the best fighter that I can be and a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication for me to try to be the best fighter in the world,” Kevin Lee said on Instagram. “When I look back on it, I had a hell of a career. I fought a lot of tough guys and some of the toughest guys in the world. I’ve always put up a great fight. I never backed down, and I always challenged myself to do things that I didn’t think I was capable of doing. The last three years have been rough, especially on my body.

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“It’s been a lot of injuries and honestly, that’s one of the main factors of me making this decision. I’m in need of another surgery after that last fight,” Kevin Lee continued. “I’m proud that I went out on my shield, I’m proud that I stood up in there and went out on my own terms. But at this point, I have to think about more than just myself and my skills. I think my skills and the time and energy that I put in this sport, I can put into something else, and God willing, Alhamdulillah and all glory to God, he’s going to lead me down a different path, the right path to where I can use my skills to help people.

“I think if I dedicate myself and I give just as much hard work to doing something else, the sky is the limit. So again, I hold my head up high. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get to accomplish everything that I wanted to. But I’m proud of myself for this career that I’ve had, and I appreciate everybody that has given two f***s about me and everybody who supported me, and even the people that kind of doubted and hated along the way. I appreciate everybody. It’s been a hell of a journey. I’m still young. I’m still capable of doing a lot in this life and that is what I am going to do,” Kevin Lee concluded.

Kevin Lee concludes his MMA career with a record of 19-8. In his career, he fought for the UFC’s interim lightweight title and holds notable wins over Edson Barboza, Michael Chiesa, Diego Sanchez, and Gregor Gillespie among others.