Kevin Lee is not one to back down from a challenge.
He will move back down to lightweight, and take on another tough foe in undefeated Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244 on Nov. 2.
And while Lee (18-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC), who’s currently on a two-fight losing skid, admits that it’s probably not the best fight to take at this point, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“My back is completely against the wall here,” Lee told MMA Junkie. “It’s not really that smart of a fight if I’m being honest. Taking on somebody who’s undefeated, up and coming and who has a style that can really shut you down and even if you win against him, not a lot of guys are going to look good.”
Gillespie (13-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has run through competition so far in his UFC tenure, but Lee will be his highest-profile fight to date. “The Motown Phenom” knows that Gillespie has a lot more to gain from this fight, but is excited to be going up against this caliber of an opponent, even if he’s relatively unknown to the general public.
“Going against that type of style, he’s a more decorated wrestler than anybody in the division,” Lee said. “So there are a lot of factors that come into play, and again I’m coming off two losses, and I remember that too. That’s something that’s in the back of my head. He’s undefeated, he’s never even tasted that before so it’s definitely one where my back is against the wall. It’s not a whole lot to gain but that’s the types of fight where I rise to the occasion.”
Lee, who’s had struggles with his cut down to 155 pounds, decided to make the move up to welterweight in his last fight. He took on former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, and ended up losing via fourth-round submission in May.
But Lee never thought about a tune-up fight to try and get back into the win column. He wanted to bounce back with a tough test. Gillespie is exactly the type of opponent Lee was looking for, and the fight ended up fitting perfectly into his desired date to return.
“For me it was about just getting in there and competing,” Lee said. “And to compete against somebody who’s really good. Not just getting in there, oh let me just make some money and let me get my feet wet and fight somebody like a Diego Sanchez or something like that. I want toughest guys that they could possibly find and it worked out perfect. Gregor’s from New York, we’re going to take this fight in Madison Square Garden, biggest arena in New York.”
And for someone who’s always wanted to face lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Gillespie could be the fight to prove that Lee has the style to beat Nurmagomedov.
But Lee will leave that up for the fans to decide. He wants to let his fighting do the talking.
“I’ll leave this for the people to decide,” Lee said. “I think Gregor is the most decorated wrestler at 155, way more decorated than even Khabib was so I’ll leave that for the people. They’ll see the fight, they’ll see how it’s going to go. It’s so hard trying to fight a guy that’s really trying to take you down and really skilled at it too so after this fight, I’ll let the people see what they see and see how we match up.”
With the undefeated Nurmagomedov having ran through the majority of the top contenders at lightweight, Lee thinks a win over Gillespie would put him in a prime position.
“I think there’s not a lot of opponents for Khabib at 155,” Lee said. “Especially after he gets past Tony Ferguson so after this fight, I’m going to show everybody that there’s a new challenger on the block for sure.”
And in what looks like an intriguing grappler vs. grappler fight on paper, Lee says it won’t necessarily go down that way. All he knows, is he plans on making a statement on Nov. 2.
“I’m going to beat the hell out of him at the end of the day,” Lee said. “It’s not going to be a wrestling match, it’s not going to be see how many points you score versus – no, I’m going out there to hurt the man so that’s the only thing that’s on my mind.”
“I’m going to remind everybody who’s the next up at 155 for sure. This is that fight. This is win big, or go home, and my back’s against the wall so I’m coming out swinging.”
Kevin Lee admits that Gregor Gillespie 'not really that smart of a fight,' took challenge anyway