Kevin Lee believes he is already a top-five fighter in the UFC welterweight division

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee believes that he is already a top-five fighter in the UFC welterweight division.

Lee makes his return to the Octagon after nearly 18 months away from the cage when he fights Daniel Rodriguez this Saturday night at UFC Vegas 35. After losing by submission to current UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in his last fight, Lee decided that he will be moving back up to 170lbs. He fought in the welterweight division back in 2019 when he lost via submission to Rafael dos Anjos. Despite not having a win in the division, however, Lee believes that he is already one of the top-five fighters in the UFC welterweight division.

Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Lee explained why he believes he is already an elite fighter at 170lbs and why he believes he can give the top fighters a tough challenge.

“I feel like I’m already top five, so this is going to be one of those fights to show the difference in what I’ve got,” Lee said (h/t Middle Easy). “I’ve been watching the whole time and I see nobody around here. I see nobody that can bring what I bring to the table. I see nobody that’s got the skills that I’ve got, and can do everything in a complete package. I don’t see none of them, so yeah, it’s me. (Usman) is a great champ. He’s a great champ, I’ll give it to him. But I don’t think he’s really been challenged by anybody, and I’m here to give him that challenge,” added Lee. “Leon (Edwards) is not really up there. Colby (Covington’s) going to put up a good fight. Leon will make a good fight, but he don’t bring the complete package. He might bring some decent fighting skills, but it takes more than that in this game, I feel like. There’s some big names, yeah some decent names. But they don’t do sh*t.”

Do you think Kevin Lee will defeat Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 35 and move closer to the top-five in the UFC welterweight division?