It wasn’t so long ago that Kevin Lee was considered UFC champion material. Achieving that goal might’ve come to fruition if not for some serious weight-cutting issues plaguing his career.
From his promotional debut in early 2014 until a victory over Michael Chiesa in the summer of 2017, Lee went 9-2 as a lightweight, with two separate winning streaks of four and five. During his five-fight winning, the finishes started adding up, leading to an interim title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 216.
Lee struggled with a massive weight cut for the biggest fight of his career, registering 156 pounds the first time he stepped on the scale. After being cleared by a Nevada Athletic Commission doctor, Lee was allowed one more hour to make 155 – which he did, but he paid a heavy price. He’ developed a staph infection, which he hid from the commission, and proceeded to lose by third-round submission to Ferguson.
The ordeal made it clear to Lee that, as his body matured, making the lightweight limit would be difficult. That proved to be the case as he missed weight and then struggled to reach 156 in his next two fights, prompting an unsuccessful move to welterweight. Lee was a “tweener” – too big for lightweight, too small for welterweight. He continued to lobby the UFC to create a 165-pound division, but UFC president Dana White would have none of that.
Lee was released from the UFC last November after going 2-4 in his final three years with the promotion. Now at 29, he’s with Eagle FC, which has adopted the Association of Boxing Commission’s designated super lightweight division of 165, and he can’t wait to get going.
“The best part is getting to make history – getting to be able to be the one to pioneer this division,” Lee said. “I think it’s going to be something that we can look back on and say, ‘Oh, OK, this is where it all started.’ The rumblings kind of started in 2017 when we started talking about it first, and it took us five, six years to actually do it, and I think it’ll be another three, four years before it’s really implemented. It’s like the time before when there was no 155, there was no 145, there was no 135, and now you’re seeing all these things start to implement. So to be on the forefront of the 165, it gives me a little more drive in order to get it done.”
Lee’s first fight as a super lightweight is slated for March 11 against fellow former UFC title challenger Diego Sanchez.
Lee views kickstarting a 165-pound division as an opportunity to rewrite his MMA legacy.
“It’s one thing to be a UFC lightweight champion, right? And you can be the greatest and all that,” Lee said. “But one thing I notice is, no matter how good you are, Georges St-Pierre is the greatest (welterweight) of all time, right? It’s really hard to dispute that, but as soon as somebody like Kamaru Usman starts winning a couple fights, all of a sudden they write all of that off anyway. I feel like this is gonna be what really sets me apart from just your average UFC champion.”
