Kevin Lee is a Lightweight no more. At least not for the time being, as “The Motown Phenom” will move to to the Welterweight division to face Rafael dos Anjos at the upcoming UFC Fight Night 151 on ESPN+ (Get a free trial here) on May 18, 2019 inside Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.
So much for this.
The fight was first reported by Democrat and Chronicle, who brought word of bout earlier today (Weds., March 20, 2019). Lee is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Al Iaquinta, which went down last December at UFC on FOX 31 (see it). The defeat was Lee’s second to “Ragin’ Al,” who also spoiled Kevin’s Octagon debut back in 2014.
Prior to the loss, Lee had won six of his last seven fights, all taking place at 155 pounds. The 170-pound matchup against dos Anjos will be the first time he’s ever competed outside of the Lightweight division.
As for Rafael, he is currently riding a two-fight losing streak, coming up short against Colby Covington in a interim welterweight title fight last June, and was more-recently seen getting dominated for five rounds by current division king, Kamaru Usman.
A win over Lee will go a long way in helping “RDA” get back into the mix, while a third straight defeat might convince him to head back down to Lightweight where he ruled the division for short stint in 2015.
A victory here for “The Motown Phenom” could convince him to remain at 170 pounds in hopes of climbing the ranks to compete for another division strap after coming up short in his lone opportunity back in 2017 against Tony Ferguson.
Early predictions?