Kevin Lee was going to take the Charles Oliveira fight under one condition: He gets Islam Makhachev right after.
Lee (18-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) will head into enemy territory in March when he headlines UFC on ESPN+ 28 against the streaking Oliveira (28-8 MMA, 16-8 UFC).
But why not Makhachev first after all of their Twitter talk? Lee explains that the UFC didn’t think Makhachev was ready.
“That was one of the stipulations behind me taking this fight against Oliveira, is I for sure get Islam,” Lee told MMA Junkie. “They can’t hide him from me no more. They were talking about, ‘Oh hey, he ain’t experienced enough yet to fight you, he needs a little bit more time to get ready.’ …If I do this one against Charles, I for sure – one of my bonuses for this is to get Islam.
“So, basically what I’m trying to do, I’m trying to sign two bout agreements. I’m trying to sign this one then I’m trying to sign the one in June. I mean, I don’t think anyone’s ever done that in the UFC, but them rules are made to be broken.”
Initially, Lee wanted to fight Makhachev (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) on the same UFC 249 card that lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is headlining with Tony Ferguson in April.
Lee thought hat would have been a perfect addition to the card, but he thinks the UFC opted against it, because the matchup wouldn’t get the shine that it deserves.
A headliner in Makhachev’s home country of Russia would be a better option.
“I think they thought that that card was already finished,” Lee said. “They got Khabib, they got Rose Namajunas – for me, I was like, ‘Let’s make this a mega event.’ You got Khabib, Namajunas, then me vs. Islam? It’s going to push that pay-per-view into the next little level, but I think they they look at it like we want that fight to be even bigger. We want it to be in Russia, and it makes sense there, especially for it to headline, so they kind of sold me on it.”
As soon as the fight between Lee and Oliveira was announced, Makhachev had some words for Lee, accusing him of taking the easy way out. But Lee isn’t too fazed.
“He can say what he wants,” Lee said. “Either way, we’re still going to have our date in June.”
Lee wasn’t about to sit and wait until June, so he decided to take on Oliveira, who the UFC wanted to headline the March 14 show in Brazil all along. While Lee admits that he needed a bit of convincing, he doesn’t mind being the one to halt Oliveira’s winning streak.
That’s something Lee did in spectacular fashion in his last fight by knocking out Gregor Gillespie with a head kick at UFC 244 to bounce him from the ranks of the unbeaten.
“Oliveira is hot and cold, but I feel like he’s in the prime of his career right now,” Lee said. “He’s 30 years old. I think he just had a daughter, too, so that kind of gave him an extra little bit of fire. And if you look at his last two fights especially, I mean he’s like on a crazy six-fight win streak, but if you look at his last two fights, he’s really stepping up and he’s really, I think, hit another little stride in his career.
“So for me, I gotta go out there, and I gotta take that momentum away from him. I gotta keep beating these guys that nobody else wants to fight. It’s the harder, longer route in a career, but it’s something that I’m doing.”
You can hear more from Lee on Oliveira and Makhachev in the video above. For the full interview, check out the video below.
Charles Oliveira up next, but Kevin Lee hasn't forgotten about Islam Makhachev. He guarantees it