The UFC is formally out of the Kevin Lee enterprise.
As soon as upon a time, the ‘Motown Phenom’ was some of the intriguing prospects within the UFC’s loaded light-weight division. Nonetheless, an interim title loss in opposition to Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 put him on track for a lackluster 2-5 run that in the end led to his outright launch in November 2021.
After bagging a win over Diego Sanchez below the Eagle FC banner, Lee was given one other shot by Dana White and Co, making his return to the promotion in July 2023 for a scrap with Rinat Fakhretdinov. 55 seconds into the scrap, Fakhretdinov caught Lee with a guillotine choke.
Lee retired from MMA shortly after, however throughout a latest look on The Ariel Helwani Present, revealed that he had been desperately attempting to re-sign with the UFC, even providing to compete on Dana White’s Contender Sequence for a paltry 5k payout.
Sadly, the UFC wasn’t .
“I actually need to compete. For me, cash isn’t essentially the most important difficulty; I stated I’d take that struggle for $5k on Contender Sequence in opposition to the most effective Contender they bought,” Lee advised Helwani. “They weren’t focused on that. Why? I don’t know. I didn’t have a lot dialog with the UFC apart from Sean Shelby, and he stated he wasn’t actually focused on one thing like that. Once I speak with Ali [Abdelaziz], and he tells me something concerning the UFC, he says they’re not in any respect.
“Why that’s? I couldn’t inform you. I’ve been in a number of the largest fights in UFC historical past. I completed off their Fox deal going into the ESPN deal, and I’m a fairly straightforward man to work with,” Lee concluded. “I really feel like I’m skilled, I do what I have to do, and I don’t rub too many individuals the flawed approach. Why they didn’t need me to go on Contender Sequence to show I’m nonetheless top-of-the-line 155ers on the market, I don’t know, however I’ll ensure this subsequent time, there isn’t a doubt.”
Kevin Lee finds new MMA life within the GFL Following the UFC’s newest rejection
Fortunately for Lee, there are different choices on the market. In December, it was introduced that the Michigan native had signed with the International Combat League, a promotion that has been gobbling up expertise in preparation for its inaugural occasion rumored to go down in April.
No bulletins have been made relating to Lee, or anybody else’s first look with the promotion, but when Lee will get his want, he’ll get to actual some revenge on the fighter that crushed his momentum eight years in the past.
