Earmarking a summer Octagon return following a pair of ACL tears, former interim UFC lightweight championship challenger, Kevin Lee has sights set on a pairing against polarizing welterweight striker, Mike Perry at UFC 264 on July 10.
The Detriot all-rounder headlined UFC Fight Night Brasilia last March in the promotion’s last international trip besides Abu Dhabi, UAE — suffering an eventual third round guillotine loss to upcoming UFC 262 lightweight title challenger, Charles Oliveira.
The defeat came as Lee’s third in his four most recent Octagon outings, and his second camp under the tutelage of Firas Zahabi at Tristar MMA in Canada. Lee also tipped the lightweight scales opposite Oliveira, coming in at 158.5lbs for the lightweight headliner.
Suffering an ACL tear last year, Lee required surgery and unfortunately, during the rehabilitation process, tore his other ACL — resulting in a prolonged stint on the sidelines.
Targeting a summer return, Lee initially floated the idea of a rematch against former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson — who meets Beneil Dariush this weekend at UFC 262, however, he appears to have switched his attention to Perry, as a well as a probable move to the welterweight division.
“@PlatinumPerry (Mike Perry) we fighting July 10 or what @seanshelby @danawhite.” Lee tweeted to the Flint native.
For Perry, the outspoken puncher is in the midst of a similar career slide in the Octagon, at least — suffering defeats in four of his five most recent appearances.
Most recently featuring at UFC on ABC 2 in March, Perry suffered a rather one-sided unanimous decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez in a welterweight showcase.
Lee, who has featured briefly at welterweight in the past, met with former lightweight titleholder, Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night Rochester in May of 2019, suffering an eventual third round arm-triangle defeat to the Brazilian mainstay.
In Lee’s most recent professional win, he met with UFC Vegas 26 feature, Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244 in November of 2019 — stopping the avid fishing enthusiast with a highlight-reel first round high-kick — handing Gillespie his first professional loss in mixed martial arts.