Kevin Lee is devastated and embarrassed by his loss to Al Iaquinta at UFC on FOX 31.
Kevin Lee suffered a major setback at UFC on FOX 31, and ‘The Motown Phenom’ isn’t taking it too well.
Lee was hoping to avenge his 2014 loss to Al Iaquinta in last night’s main event, but the 26-year-old ended up losing a unanimous decision at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
Speaking to MMA Junkie at a post-fight media scrum, Lee said he is devastated and embarrassed by his loss to Iaquinta, who he saw as a stepping stone to an inevitable lightweight title bout.
“Devastating, embarrassed,” Lee said.“This sport sometimes has the lowest of lows, and it really don’t feel lower than now, but I’ll be all right. I might not get another shot at Al, but I’ve fought a lot of great fighters in my career, and he’s definitely up there amongst them. We’ll see once everything gets settled down.”
Following the loss, Lee hinted at a move up to welterweight, claiming that he could compete ‘very, very well’ at 170 lbs. The #4-ranked lightweight has struggled to make the 155-pound weight limit in the past, missing weight in his headlining bout against Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 128.
“It might be time for me to make that change,” Lee said. “I knew it about a year ago, but I’m a real stubborn son of a (expletive), so I’m just going to try to make as many adjustments as I can and make it as clean as I can, but it still is very rough for me to get down to this weight. Maybe now it’s time to just go up and look at other options.
“I think I can compete very, very well at 170 and be fast in and out of the pocket, too. I don’t know. We’ll see as I kind of get healed up and everything.”
Expect Lee to slip down the official UFC rankings in the coming days.