Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Kevin Lee is ready to ruin Brazilian fans’ night at UFC Brasilia in March.
Lightweight contender Kevin Lee is looking to upset local fans once again.
After knocking out Gregor Gillespie out cold in his home state of New York, the ‘Motown Phenom’ wants to do it again at UFC Brasilia’s main event, this time against submission specialist Charles Oliveira.
In an interview with Combate, Lee confessed he enjoys being the bad guy and spoiling the night for local fans who want to support his opponents. In Brasilia, Kevin expects to be able to silence the loud Brazilian fans just like he did in Madison Square Garden, in his most recent outing.
“I enjoy being a buzzkiller,” Lee said. “I’ll make sure I’ll shut up all the Brazilians. That arena is going to get so, so quiet by the end of the night. Sometimes, that’s what I like to do. I like to steal the thunder. I feel like I silenced Madison Square Garden in my last fight, now I’ll silence this next arena, too.”
Although Charles Oliveira is on the best run of his UFC career, riding a six-fight winning streak, all finishes, Lee believes ‘Do Bronx’ is not quite ready yet for this level of competition, especially in a main event fight against him.
“It’s a good fight. Especially when you look at the way his last couple of fights ended, with good knockout wins. He showed he can do practically everything, so I feel like it’ll be a fight that will elevate me.”
“I don’t think he is ready for this level yet.” Lee continued. “I don’t think he has fought at this level, especially in a main event fight like this. So I think those things favor me.”
Back in November 2019, Kevin Lee (18-5) scored a stunning head kick finish against the aforementioned Gillespie. The victory snapped a two-fight losing skid for the 27-year-old, who was tapped out at welterweight by Rafael dos Anjos in May of the same year and dropped a unanimous decision to Al Iaquinta in December 2018.
UFC Fight Night: Lee vs. Oliveira takes place on Saturday, March 14 in Brasilia. ESPN+ will live stream the whole card.