WATCH | Kevin Lee releases training footage ahead of comeback, promises to face top lightweight in return

Former title challenger Kevin Lee is almost ready to make his UFC return.

‘The Motown Phenom’ has had a rough last few years. Kevin Lee last competed in July 2021, against Rinat Fakhretdinov. The bout was his first in well over a year, and his first back in the octagon since being released from the UFC in August 2021. Ultimately, Lee was choked out inside of a round by the welterweight contender.

Following the fight, Kevin Lee announced his retirement from fighting. Given the former lightweight title challenger’s injury issues over the years, the announcement didn’t come as a huge surprise. Following his loss to Fakhretdinov, Lee revealed that he tore his ACL by even just jumping into the cage.

Just six months removed from his retirement announcement, Kevin Lee changed his mind and unretired. While ‘The Motown Phenom’ still needed time on the sidelines to heal, he was deadset on returning to the cage as soon as possible. Just based on a recent post on Instagram, it seems that Lee’s return will be coming sooner rather than later.

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Lightweight contender Kevin Lee releases training footage ahead of UFC comeback

Taking to Instagram earlier this week, Kevin Lee released a brief video of himself training. In the video, the former UFC lightweight title challenger was seen kicking the heavy bag. In the caption, Lee admitted that he hasn’t been able to kick like that in years. While he’s not at 100%, the lightweight wants to be back fighting shortly.

“It’s been almost 3 years since I been able to kick a bag like this and it feels good.” Kevin Lee wrote on Instagram. “Still not full speed or power yet, but in a month I’ll be ready to start fighting the best 155 lightweights in the world again.”

While the lightweight contender doesn’t have any return fight set, Kevin Lee has targeted multiple fighters since unretiring. Earlier this year, the former title challenger called for a rematch with Tony Ferguson and eventual bouts with the likes of Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler. ‘El Cucuy’ previously submitted Lee to win interim gold in 2017.

What do you make of this training footage from the UFC lightweight contender? Who do you want to see Kevin Lee fight in his return?