Kevin Lee’s return to MMA is getting near, and it’s close enough that he’s already got a name and date in mind.
The UFC lightweight contender would like to rematch former interim champion Tony Ferguson in his return to fighting. Lee (18-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) is currently recovering from major injuries that have kept him out of the cage since March 2020, but he said he’s almost fit again to undergo a full training camp.
“The Motown Phenom” doesn’t want an easy return and hopes to lock horns with a top-five opponent in Ferguson.
“That’s what they do in boxing – you ease your way back in. But the way I’m feeling, I don’t think it’s necessary,” Lee told MMA Junkie. “I’m going to fight Tony Ferguson. I think that fight makes sense from all angles. I don’t see anybody else that’s out there for him to fight.
“It just makes sense and it puts us back where it should be. A fight with me and him is going to kind of show one of us has to win, one of us is going to have to leave. So that’s a fight that interests me this summer. We’ll see what he talking about on his end, but he’s No. 1 in my book .”
Lee had two surgeries in 2020 after tearing both his left and right ACL. The 28-year-old has been doing physical therapy in his hometown of Las Vegas and is almost fully fit to return to fighting.
The former UFC interim lightweight title challenger thinks in a couple of months he’ll be able to undergo a full training camp. Lee wants to face Ferguson in his return sometime June or July.
“I’d say I’m about 80 percent,” Lee explained. “I’m nine months out on my first ACL (surgery) and six months from my second ACL. They normally say, you know, in the past it used to be a year before guys were back and 100 percent, but I think I’m healing like Wolverine. By working out at the (UFC Performance Institute, it’s hard f**king work. But I’m speeding up the recovery process a lot. I say maybe in two months I’d be ready to start a training camp.”
Lee lost to Ferguson by third-round submission in an interim lightweight title fight in 2017 at UFC 216. It’s the only time he’s headlined a UFC pay-per-view event.
Lee thinks Ferguson is still a top fighter, but maybe not for long. He’s interested in facing Ferguson now before any potential age-related decline in his game.
Ferguson is coming off loses to Justin Gaethje and Charles Olivera, which snapped an impressive 12-fight winning streak that lasted nearly six years. Lee is adamant now is the time to fight “El Cucuy” before it’s too late.
“I think he’s going to dig deep for the next one, for sure,” Lee said. “That’s why I want to get him next. I think he’s probably got one more good run in him, one more good push in him, so I want to be the one to gets him at his best again and shut that down.
“He’s like 36, 37 years old, but then you see a Lebron James who’s out there still ballin’ – 36 is different these days. It’s not the same. So I think he might have one good push in him left. That’s why that fight interests me. If I really thought he was just on the down and he was just never going to come back, then I would overlook him. But I think he’s got one more in him. I’d be that one, for sure.”
To hear the full interview, check out the video below.
Kevin Lee targets summer return vs. Tony Ferguson: ‘Makes sense from all angles’
