UFC lightweight Kevin Lee reveals upcoming ACL surgery, expects to be out of action for six months

Kevin Lee is going under the knife to repair a torn ACL.

Surgery for Lee’s knee is scheduled for Thursday, he revealed to ESPN on Tuesday. According to Lee (18-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC), he’s looking at a six-month recovery before he can step into the UFC cage again.

“It used to mean being out a year,” Lee told ESPN. “They’ve gotten better with the technology and the (physical therapy), so it might even be sooner. I don’t know.”

Lee most recently competed in March at UFC on ESPN+ 28 in Brasilia, Brazil. One half of the card’s headliner, Lee was submitted by Charles Oliveira in Round 3.

Prior to the diagnosis, Lee revealed he did not injure his knee in the fight. Instead, he injured it in an unexpected manner. While he wouldn’t specify exactly how the injury occurred, Lee revealed it wasn’t from the fight.

“(I) was not even doing something that was totally out of the ordinary,” Lee told The Luke Thomas Show. “I’m not going to say specifically how it happened because of insurance, you know? But it wasn’t something totally out of the ordinary. I think I may have been affected by this whole virus and (expletive) more than I think. For some reason, I’ve just been overly fatigued. My body ain’t been feeling great.

“I zigged when I should have zagged. I heard a pop pretty loud, and the next day it swole up to the size of a balloon. Since then, I’ve just been unable to really move it much.”

Lee, 27, has lost four of his most recent six fights. Prior to the loss to Oliveira, Lee was coming off a “Knockout of the Year” contender in 2019. At UFC 244, Lee blasted then-undefeated lightweight Gregor Gillespie with a vicious head kick. The shot knocked Gillespie out cold and provided a highlight reel for the ages.