Kevin Lee News

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 20, 2018

When fan favorite lightweight contender Nate Diaz announced his intention to return to the cage, recent interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee was among the first fighters to call him out. When this callout went unanswered, however, Lee formed the opinion that Diaz doesn’t actually want to fight. “I don’t know how folks jumped on the Nate bandwagon so hard, folks just think he is such a fighter, but the man doesn’t want to fight, that’s the bottom line,” Lee said on a recent episode of Cage Side Submissions (h/t Nicole Bosco of FanSided). “If a man doesn’t want to fight, I’m not a bully. I’m not going to keep berating him and going at him. He is in and out of Vegas all the time, I see him in the store here a lot, me and him we will get into a little conversation here and there, but I’m not going to berate a man that doesn’t want to fight. If he doesn’t want to fight ok, we won’t worry about it. He doesn’t want to fight, if he does he damn sure ain’t going to fight someone like me, he’s going to fight somebody like Eddie [Alvarez] who is on his way out.”

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 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.

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

On April 7, at UFC 223, interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for a lightweight title. Will it be the interim title currently owned by Ferguson, or the undisputed title currently owned by Conor McGregor? Dana White was incredibly unclear when asked about this at a press conference in Boston, refusing to say whether the UFC will strip McGregor of his undisputed title, but also assuring the winner of this Ferguson-Nurmagomedov fight will be the champion… Whatever the case ‘The Motown Phenom” Kevin Lee expects Tony Ferguson to be the man who comes out on top – against Nurmagomedov and McGregor.

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

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 19, 2017

If Justin Gaethje would have managed to get through Eddie Alvarez, no question he would have been pushed toward a title shot. Unfortunately, the former WSOF champion finally met his match after being undefeated for 18 fights. He was proud to go out on shield, but of course he wanted to walk out with the leverage he would have gotten from a huge win. Either way, the warrior that Gaethje is just shrugs and moves on. He’ll set his eyes on a fight with Dustin Poirier or Kevin Lee next. “When you win, you get to pick somebody in front of you, but when you lose; I am still ranked No. 5 in the world, UFC, so coming off a loss now I get to give somebody behind me a chance. So, we will see which one of these loudmouths, Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier. One of them is going to have to get me on my comeback. So I’m trying for that.”

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:

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 216, Kevin Lee came up short in a bid to capture the UFC interim lightweight title in a fight with Tony Ferguson. For Lee, however, the real fight began in the days before he stepped into the cage, when he had to shed a monstrous 21 pounds to reach the lightweight division’s 155-pound limit. Initially, Lee actually failed to make 155, tipping the scales about a pound over. Luckily, he was given an extra hour by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and ultimately managed to make championship weight.

Tom Taylor - October 9, 2017

Last Saturday, in the main event of the action-packed UFC 216, Kevin Lee and Tony Ferguson stepped into the cage to battle for the interim lightweight title. Though Lee started strong, mounting and very nearly finishing Ferguson in the first-frame, his gas tank seemed to empty as the fight progressed. From there, Ferguson was able up the aggression, wear his foe down, and ultimately, lock up a choke for the win.

Tom Taylor - October 9, 2017

Last Saturday night, in the main event of the stacked UFC 216, 25-year-old lightweight contender Kevin Lee stepped in to the Octagon with the streaking Tony Ferguson. He did so in an effort to capture the UFC interim lightweight title. While Lee put up a valiant fight, very nearly finishing Ferguson in the first-round, he was ultimately finished in the third round when he was wrapped up in an arm-triangle choke. Unsurprisingly, this was not the result the young fighter was looking for. That said, he has taken the L with grace.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee headlined tonight’s UFC 216 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Kevin Lee comes forward and lands a head kick. Tony shakes it off and circles out. Kevin lands a nice right hand over the top. Ferguson with a low kick. Kevin just misses with another right hand. Tony leaps in and lands a kick to the body. Lee charges forward with a right. He lands another right that knocks Ferguson to the floor. Tony pops back up and cracks Lee coming in. Kevin goes down to one knee and then gets back up. Good start to this one. Lee with a nice left hook. Ferguson comes forward with a front kick. Lee shoots in and scores a takedown. Ferguson tries to sweep but Lee winds up on top. Ferguson utilizing rubber guard. He looks for a should lock but Lee escapes and winds up on top and in full guard. Lee with some ground and pound from the top. Lee moves to north-south position. One minute remains. Lee moves to mount and begins raining down some big shots on Ferguson. Huge elbows and now punches from the mount. Lee is all over him. Round one comes to an end.

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

Yesterday was a wild roller coaster of suspense. It was one of the most stressful weigh-ins of UFC history, as yet another fight with Tony Ferguson looked like it was about to be called off. Kevin Lee pushed through a brutal weight cut, made championship weight in his second attempt, keeping the main event still intact. The problem is, situations like this happen all the time. Kevin Lee made it through healthy, but it doesn’t always end up that way. His coach spoke out yesterday after the weigh-in and said that fighters will always do this until the system changes. Told y’all I ain’t no bitch. #scaredyadidntI

Russell Ess - October 6, 2017

The weigh-ins for UFC 216 were filled with suspense as Kevin Lee waited till the very last moment to weigh in for his UFC interim title fight against Tony Ferguson. Lee needed a towel to weigh in as he took off all of his clothing to ensure no extra weight was on him and stepped on the scale and tried to wipe any remaining sweat off his body. The “Motown Phenom” had a look of confidence as he stared down at the official operating the scale and even nodded his head and made a fist.