Issue 178

May 2019

After his hard-fought setback against Al Iaquinta, Kevin Lee has had to put his dreams of a title shot on a temporary hold, but he remains undaunted.

STATS

• UFC Lightweight
• Age: 27
• Record: 17-4-0
• Team: Xtreme Couture
• From: Michigan, United States

Kevin Lee picked up a massive victory when he defeated Edson Barboza via TKO in the fifth round of their main event contest at UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City. Following that win, Lee then got the opportunity to avenge the first loss of his professional career when he faced Al Iaquinta on the UFC’s last ever Fox Sports fight card. Unfortunately for Lee though things don’t go his way and he lost via unanimous decision in a fight where a victory could have seen him straight back in the UFC lightweight title mix.

Despite the setback, Lee hasn’t given up hope on staking his claim for a shot at the UFC’s 155lb title and aims to get back on track in 2019.

“Things have been pretty hectic, but that’s just normal for me,” Lee explains in an exclusive interview. “Right now I’m just I’m looking to getting back into fight camp as soon as possible. That’s what solves everything for me because that’s the one area of my life that I got under control.

“I feel like I got f**ed over in my last fight,” he continues, “but all I want to do now is get back in there. I don’t care who it’s against. It’s all about getting this year off to a good start and then pushing on and having an amazing year.”

Although he’s focused on the year ahead, Lee is narrowing down the reasons why he came out on the wrong end of a 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 loss on the scorecards last December. Having now lost twice to his long-time rival Iaquinta, Lee believes he has to change up his approach.

“If I’m being totally honest, I think it had a lot to do with my corner,” he reasons. “In between rounds, I wasn’t able to make the necessary adjustments. I’m pretty sure that we had the first three rounds in the bag, but when you’re in there, things look different to sitting on the outside and the judges obviously had a different view on things.

“I took my foot off the gas too early and that’s just something that comes with time and experience,” he continues. “Going against someone like Al who is just tough and just keeps on coming, it’s something that I’ve definitely got to adjust. There are going to be some things that I’m going to work on in my corner and just get stronger. I’m going to go out there and just hurt motherf***ers from now on.”

How Lee changes things up remains to be seen, but he admits the absence of one man in particular has left a big hole in his corner. The 27 year old has never been lacking in confidence, but the experienced voice and wisdom of his former head coach is something he sorely misses and he concedes that a long-term solution has yet to present itself.

“Ever since my head coach Robert Follis passed last year, it’s been very hard for me to find somebody that has that voice for me,” he said. “I’m kinda still looking for that.

Regardless, now it’s about changing the approach that we do have, even if we don’t necessarily add a new head coach or something like that. I’ll take it all as it comes but I don’t know if there will be a personnel change yet. I just got to take it as it comes.”

Despite his recent setback, dwelling on the past is something Lee has never allowed himself to do and he has no shortage of potential opponents calling him out. Most fighters usually only focus on taking on those ahead of them in the rankings, but Lee says he’s prepared to give a lower-ranked fighter a shot at his number five spot.

“I’ve been back in the gym pretty much since the start of the year and I’m ready to go,” he says. “Sometimes this game gets all political and everyone is constantly looking up, but I’m happy to look down for this one. I’m ready to give somebody else a shot at a top five spot. I’ve called out pretty much everybody; a couple of guys raised their head and then backed down.

“Michael Johnson said he wanted to fight,” he continues. “So I approached Sean [Shelby] and he said that he was hurt. I think Islam Makhachev was another who raised his hand so we’re trying to make that happen as well. I know Charles Oliveira has also been calling me so I’m trying to make that one too, but he’s on a medical suspension. Whatever though man, I’m happy to face whoever they put in front of me. I’m just ready to get back in that Octagon, whoop some a** and then get back on the right track.”

Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has recently stated he wishes to stay on the sidelines until the fight at Madison Square Garden. Whilst frustrated that the title picture looks to be on lockdown until later this year, Lee isn’t allowing himself to get too worked up about it all and is instead focused on just getting the biggest fights he can to get himself firmly back in the title mix.

“This division has been log jammed for years now so it’s difficult to say who would be the perfect fight for me right now,” he speculates. “There are so many tough guys at lightweight and there doesn’t seem to be much movement in terms of guys getting fights. There are a lot of rumors flying around right now but there’s just so much politics.

“Some of the guys stick out to me,” he continues, “but I’ll be real about it – I just want to fight them all. They made me the offer to go up to welterweight, but right now I’ve got business to do at 155 so that will have to wait. I won’t be going anywhere until I get that belt. I’ll fight anyone to get my shot.”

Staying at lightweight for the foreseeable future remains Lee’s plan but his difficulty making the lightweight weight limit is no secret.

As one of the bigger men in the division Lee has often been an outspoken advocate for the creation of 165 and 175-pounds weight classes but UFC President Dana White has frequently denied that it will happen. For Lee, this could mean a bigger step up in weight though it’s not one he’s apparently afraid to make later on in his career. the weight cuts so it’s not as much of big deal for me right now. Once more good fights come up for me over there then I’ll do it, but right now there’s just too much for me to go after at 155. I’ve been licking my chops for way too long for some of these fights and I’m not ready to get up from the table just yet.”

No doubt the biggest fight Lee could ever get in the lightweight division is a showdown with Conor McGregor. From a rankings perspective, a fight between the two would make a lot of sense, though Lee believes the Irishman – who seems more likely to fight Donald Cerrone, if indeed he fights anyone – would never agree to fight him.

“You can’t deny that Conor McGregor has a lot of power in this game,” he reasons. “Good for him, he picks and chooses his fights and that’s great for him. I think it would make a lot of sense for me to fight him from a pure competitive point of view.

“We’re the closest in the rankings together and both of us are coming off losses,” he continues. “Both trying to get on the right track, and both top five guys. That’s the fight that makes a lot of sense from a competitive standpoint. It won’t happen though. He doesn’t want this fight and he’s the one running the show. He’s probably going to pick an easy fight for himself and something that’s a fun fan-friendly fight.”

Nurmagomedov is another fighter Lee hasn’t been shy of calling out but his latest loss in December has temporarily put a stop to any discussion of him being his next challenger. A title shot might not be in immediate reach, but Lee knows that he’s just a few big wins away from being right back in the title mix.

“I’ve been chasing Khabib for years now and he’s still definitely on my radar,” he explains. “I won’t leave the division until I get it. For me, right now it’s all about me going out there and making sure I do everything in my power to perform in every fight and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Lee believes he’s just a few minor adjustments away from being unstoppable and given his age he’s still arguably an apprentice at the game. With most fighters arguably reaching their prime around the age of 30, Lee still has plenty of time to achieve his goals and he’s apparently ready to take small steps in order to achieve his dreams.

“I said it before my last fight, but once I get my mental game paired up with the physical side, I don’t think there’s going to be anyone that can stop me,” he reasons. “There’s one goal that I have for this year and that’s making sure each performance is me at my best.

“I don’t want to be looking back at my fights any more and thinking ‘What if I did this?’ or ‘What if I did that?’,” he adds. “I just want to keep on improving and if a title shot comes my way then that’s great. By the end of the year I’m going to make sure I’m a champion even if it’s just in my own head achieving my goals. Time is on my side.”

Afterword:

Kevin knocked out Gregor Gillespie in UFC 244 and is currently ranked #8 in the UFC welterweight division.