Francisco Trinaldo is looking to run things back with Kevin Lee after UFC Brasilia.
Back in 2017, the two fought in Brazil where it was Lee who earned a second-round submission win to snap the Brazilian’s seven-fight winning streak. Since then, Lee had a shot at interim gold while Trinaldo has gone just 4-3 including beating John Makdessi at UFC Brasilia.
Although Trinaldo got the win, he didn’t expect it to play out like that.
“I expected John Makdessi to be more aggressive. I thought he was going to move forward, but he didn’t,” he said after the fight (via MMAJunkie). “Because of my last result, which I’m sure I won, I knew I needed to come with more desire to finish as quickly as possible. I didn’t, but I dominated from beginning to end.”
Not only did he get the win, but Francisco Trinaldo also had the opportunity to fight in front of no fans. It was a first for him. He says it was a cool experience and reminded him of just fighting in the gym.
“I have a lot of stories to tell. Besides being one of the athletes with the most number of fights in Brazil. I now had the opportunity to fight in an event without any fans,” he explained. “It was really cool – it felt like I was fighting in a closed-door gym.”
With the win, Trinaldo is on a two-fight winning streak and looking to fight up in the lightweight rankings. The 41-year-old is hoping that person will be Kevin Lee who lost in the main event to Charles Oliveira.
Trinaldo knows it would be a great fight and one that makes sense ranking-wise.
“I want to fight with the top-ranked athletes in the [division]. I would love to face Kevin Lee and be able to defeat him,” Trinaldo said.
But, Lee said after the fight we may not see him for a few years so Trinaldo’s wish may not come to fruition.
Would you be interested in Francisco Trinaldo vs. Kevin Lee 2?