HOUSTON – Andrea Lee has just one priority moving forward: don’t fall back on a skid.
The UFC women’s flyweight is out to avoid another losing streak at all costs now that she’s back in the win column. Lee (12-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) snapped a three-fight losing skid Saturday night after submitting Antonina Shevchenko on the preliminary card of UFC 262. Lee got the job done with an armbar from the triangle-choke position.
And now on the wining side, Lee doesn’t want to focus on any specific opponents, potential fight dates or rankings. She just wants to win.
“I feel great. I want to get in a couple of fights before the end of the year,” Lee told reporters at her UFC 262 post-fight news conference. “As far as names, I’m not going to worry about that. I’m not going to worry about the rankings or any of that. I just want to get out there and fight. Whoever it is, it’s who it is. I just want to stay on a win streak. I want to stay out of that losing streak. I don’t want that to happen again.”
Entering UFC 262, Lee hadn’t won since June 2019. “KGB” definitely felt the pressure entering the contest against Shevchenko (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC), but she didn’t let it affect her.
“I felt pressure, yes,” Lee said. “But I was constantly telling myself, ‘I’m going to win. I’m not losing this fight.’ I kept telling myself, ‘I’m the best. I’m the threat. She’s fighting me, I’m not fighting her.’ And I just kept saying that over and over in my mind.
“But, yes, there was pressure because I am fighting Antonina, and she’s an incredible fighter and a big name. She’s well rounded, and she’s gotten better and better. So, yes, there was pressure, but I knew I just needed to go out there and get my hand raised. And more importantly, I just wanted to go out there and be exciting for the fans.”
The submission of Shevchenko marks Lee’s first finish since joining the promotion from LFA back in 2018. Lee is already labeling her performance at UFC 262 as the best of her career.
“I would say so,” Lee said. “It is my first finish in the UFC. so I would certainly say so. I felt like my mind was there completely. I could hear my corner, and I was doing everything they said, and I just felt like I was in the fight. My mind wasn’t somewhere else.”
Andrea Lee relieved to snap losing skid at UFC 262: ‘I don’t want that to happen again’