Kevin Lee still hopes to fight at UFC on ESPN 30 at the end of the month.
Kevin Lee is still looking for a fight.
Lee previously competed more than a year ago at UFC Fight Night: Lee vs. Oliveira in Brazil, where he was submitted by Charles Oliveira with a guillotine choke in the third round of their fight. That would be his last appearance in the Octagon for a while as he suffered ACL tears in both of his knees that kept him sidelined for an extended period of time.
Lee has since undergone surgery to repair those tears and was expected to make his return a month ago at UFC 264 against undefeated welterweight prospect, Sean Brady. However, a rib injury to Lee would force him to withdraw from the event, but the pairing remained intact and rescheduled for UFC on ESPN 30 in August. Last week, the fight was canceled for a second time after a foot infection rendered Brady unable to compete.
Lee vowed to stay on UFC on ESPN 30 and went to social media to send a message to “anybody with the balls to step up” for a short-notice fight. Instead of waiting for someone who specifically met his criteria to respond, Lee took matters into his own hands and called out the likes of Mike Perry and Belal Muhammad.
Lee asked for a fight with Perry earlier this year, but was rejected after “Platinum” said he needed more time to prepare. Lee wonders if an extra month was enough time to do that.
“[Mike Perry] you told me you needed more time in July, how’s August 28th sound? Grow some balls and get on the treadmill we got 3 weeks,” wrote Lee.
Perry has not responded to Lee, but the aforementioned Muhammad did. Muhammad was indeed interested in a fight with Lee, albeit at another date. The ranked welterweight contender proposed a fight between him and Lee take place at UFC 266, which is currently scheduled for September.
UFC on ESPN 30 is headlined by a featherweight fight between Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze.