Kevin Lee withdraws from UFC 264 with rib injury, hopes to rebook Sean Brady fight
Kevin Lee’s return to welterweight is on hold.
Lee and Sean Brady were booked to fight each other July 10 at UFC 264, but Brady revealed Thursday that the fight is expected to be rescheduled after Lee was forced to withdraw because of an injury.
“Unfortunately I will not be fighting Kevin Lee July 10th,” Brady wrote on Instagram. “From my understanding he has suffered an injury and had to pull out of the fight. My team is hoping to Rebook the fight for August.
“Thank you to all my family, friends and fans who support me. This is just a speed bump on my journey to being champ.”
Lee, 28, later confirmed to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani that he injured his rib and hopes to rebook the fight on Aug. 7.
Lee, a former UFC interim lightweight title challenger, tried his hand at 170 pounds once before, losing by fourth-round submission to Rafael dos Anjos in May 2019. Lee’s decision to move up in weight then was because of his struggles to make the lightweight limit. Since that fight, 28-year-old Lee (18-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) returned to 155 pounds and defeated Gregor Gillespie by knockout. In his most recent bout in March 2020, Lee was submitted in the third round by Charles Oliveira after missing weight by two-and-a-half pounds.
Brady, also 28, is yet to experience defeat in his professional MMA career, which began in August 2014. Brady made his UFC debut in October 2019 and has reeled off four victories against Court McGee, Ismail Naurdiev, Christian Aguilera, and most recently Jake Matthews at UFC 259. Brady is currently ranked No. 14 in the official UFC welterweight rankings.
With the removal, the updated UFC 264 lineup includes:
- Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
- Gilbert Burns vs. Stephen Thompson
- Greg Hardy vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya
- Sean O’Malley vs. Louis Smolka
- Carlos Condit vs. Max Griffin
- Michel Pereira vs. Niko Price
- Jessica Eye vs. Jennifer Maia
- Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria
- Omari Akhmedov vs. Brad Tavares
- Jerome Rivera vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Dricus Du Plessis vs. Trevin Giles
- Alen Amedovski vs. Hu Yaozong
Kevin Lee withdraws from UFC 264 with rib injury, hopes to rebook Sean Brady fight