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Kevin Lee: Dustin Poirier Would Just Get Taken Down By Khabib

Heading into his main event bout with Edson Barboza this Saturday, UFC lightweight Kevin Lee pays close attention to his division, and like everyone else, he was thoroughly entertained by last Saturday’s UFC on FOX 29 main event between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. However, unlike most everyone else, Lee says he didn’t see anything ‘championship-level’ out […]

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However, unlike most everyone else, Lee says he didn’t see anything ‘championship-level’ out of either man, focusing on Poirier’s post-fight call out of newly-crowned champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (via MMA Fighting):

“I seen it. I know Poirier was calling for a title fight and all this but I don’t know, it just seems like those dudes are in a different category. Can you really look at it and say Poirier’s a championship-level fighter? I just don’t see it. He looked good. He did good versus Gaethje, it was an exciting fight, I think he should go out and look for more exciting fights, but it didn’t really seem like a championship-level fight to me to be honest.”

“Speaking as a fan, what are you really looking for? He’s just going to go out there and get taken down by Khabib, he’s going to fight just like anybody else will fight Khabib or fight some of these top guys. I just don’t see too much from his style except exciting fights. I think him and Eddie (Alvarez), him and Gaethje again, something like that.

“He makes exciting fights, he should go out there and keep doing that, but leave the real fighting and the real championship-level s**t to the other guys.”

Lee, who’s combat base is wrestling, says that Poirier’s striking-based game won’t be enough to keep Nurmagomedov’s take downs at bay.

”The Motown Phenom” will have a chance to get back on track towards the title as he prepares to take on Edson Barboza at this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Lee had come up short against Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight belt in October.

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Kevin Lee Hints At Huge Changes For 2018

Kevin Lee wants to be a different fighter in 2018 and is making big changes to do so. After a disappointing loss in an interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, Lee has his sights set on a banner year and already has his next opponent in mind. During a recent appearance on […]

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Kevin Lee wants to be a different fighter in 2018 and is making big changes to do so.

After a disappointing loss in an interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, Lee has his sights set on a banner year and already has his next opponent in mind.

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM, Lee revealed some big changes he’s making to his fight game:

“I’m taking some time, I’m changing up my whole style. I’m changing up my team around me. You know, there have been a lot of things happening, especially at the end of this last year, unfortunately, that I’ve had to make changes (for). But it’s a new me, it’s a new start, when I come back the folks are going to see a new me.”

Lee then mentioned Gaethje as a possible dance partner, who himself is coming off of a deflating knockout loss to Eddie Alvarez, which happens to be the first loss of Gaethje’s career.

But with both men still hovering around the top five and top ten of the division, a win for either man would certainly put them back into title contention. For Lee, he see’s the matchup as more than favorable:

“I mean, absolutely. I think the best thing about 155 is that there are so many options. The division is right open now. I don’t know, we’ll see. If it’s going to be against Justin, I like easy money. Justin likes to take a lot of damage. I like to give a lot of damage – it seems like a good match to me.”

But overall, Lee isn’t sure Gaethje should get right back in the cage against him due to the damage he’s sustained in his last two UFC bout against Eddie Alvarez and Michael Johnson:

“I’m trying to look out for Justin’s health, too. He needs some time, too. The man has taken a lot of bad beatings over the last couple of months. I don’t think he wants another one right here, right now.“

Would you like to see Lee and Gaethje duke it out? Who would win a battle between them?

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Six Reasons Mayweather vs. McGregor Ruined An Entire Year Of MMA

What will amount to by far the biggest combat sports event of the year has also cast a long and dark shadow over mixed martial arts (MMA) ever since boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor boxed for ten rounds in August. Now several months removed from that epic showdown, it’s clear […]

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Now several months removed from that epic showdown, it’s clear now that interest in the UFC’s most recent offerings has been lukewarm at best, and almost nonexistent at worst. Whether due to weak cards or general burnout, the UFC’s cash grab with McGregor vs Mayweather has had serious implications on their product ever since, and that may take months to for UFC owners WME-IMG to fix, if they are ever able to.

We took a look at the six main reasons why this crossover event essentially ruined an entire year of MMA for the UFC.

6. Combat Sports Burnout

The rationale behind Mayweather vs McGregor was that this was the fight fans wanted to see, so this is what we’re giving them. While for casual fans that may be true, the nonstop promotion of the event has led to a kind of burnout that has robbed the rest of 2017 of ratings and viewership.

UFC Fight Night: OSP vs Okami did terrible numbers for a free card, even being beaten by Bellator’s event that same weekend in terms of viewership. In fact, almost all of UFC’s cards have suffered from lagging PPV sales and ratings with the exception of UFC 214, which will possibly be Jon Jones’ last gasp as a UFC star.

Casual fans, the coveted demographic that yields a strong influence over WME-IMG’s decision making, spent $100 for Mayweather vs McGregor, and haven’t really spent a dollar towards combat sports since then (perhaps with the exception of Golovkin vs Alvarez in some cases).

Non-hardcore fans are tired of the fight game for the time being, and while that will change, it will take the right card to get them to order a pay-per-view.

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Biggest Winners & Losers At UFC 216

Last night’s (Sat., October 7, 2017) UFC 216 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, appeared to be yet another UFC pay-per-view (PPV) card ravaged by literal last-minute replacements and uncertain weight cuts, but instead, it left us with a much better event than anticipated. Derrick Lewis’ back injury on the day of his […]

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Derrick Lewis’ back injury on the day of his fight with Fabricio Werdum left a hole in the card that was filled by Walt Harris, and Kevin Lee made weight in spite of a nasty staph infection. Two bouts were canceled when Nik Lentz failed to make weight for his lightweight bout against Will Brooks, and Harris’ original opponent Mark Godbeer was left without an opponent to face.

Yet just like that, the show went on, and the card deliver two heavy-hitting wars and a bevy of impressive submissions, including two straight armbars and a triangle choke to close out the main card’s three featured bouts.

We broke down the biggest winners and losers from Saturday night, and with all of the drama leading into UFC 216, there was a lot to analyze. Check them out right here.

Winners

Tony Ferguson:

Riding a nine-fight win streak leading into his interim lightweight title fight against Kevin Lee, Ferguson was a sort of uncrowned champion in Conor McGregor’s absence.

Ferguson battled through a difficult first couple of rounds to lock in a triangle choke in the third frame. “El Cucuy” showed he can battle through adversity and still come out on top.

Now primed for a title unification bout with McGregor, who hasn’t stepped foot into the Octagon since defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, Ferguson is undefeated in 10 fights and is the rightful heir to the lightweight throne

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Kevin Lee Has Unique View Of Conor McGregor’s Recent Record

Kevin Lee has no shortage of confidence leading into his interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 216. The winner will be one step closer in getting a coveted but elusive fight with Conor McGregor, who still holds the 155-pound belt. Lee expressed his thoughts at a recent UFC 216 media event via […]

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Kevin Lee has no shortage of confidence leading into his interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 216.

The winner will be one step closer in getting a coveted but elusive fight with Conor McGregor, who still holds the 155-pound belt.

Lee expressed his thoughts at a recent UFC 216 media event via MMA Fighting on the significance of the interim title he and Ferguson will be fighting for and how “The Notorious” factors into the equation:

“I think it already is for the real championship, People talk about that, like, Conor being, to me, he’s got to prove to me he’s ready to fight.

“As far as I’m concerned the man has lost three of his last four fights,” Lee said. “I don’t even think beat Nate Diaz the second time. I like a big challenge, so he’s gotta show me a little bit. He’s a small dude, too, he’s 145. He was getting out-wrestled by a dude who’s 40 years old and a boxer. He was getting him in the clinches and out-wrestling him. I mean, he was, he’s gotta show a little bit more than that to me.

“I mean it will be on my terms, It will be on my timetable. You know, I’m expecting to take this fight. I’m doing the hard work. I’m doing the heavy lifting. I’m fighting Tony. Nobody wanted to fight Tony. Conor didn’t want to fight Tony. It will be on my timetable, I’ll tell him when we gonna fight. If we fight on St. Patrick’s Day? Maybe. That might make some good business so I don’t know, I’ll see.”

Lee and Ferguson will settle their differences on October 7th in the main event of UFC 216. Meanwhile, McGregor is contemplating his next move after falling short against Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match in August.

McGregor has not defended the lightweight belt since winning it after TKOing Eddie Alvarez back at UFC 205.

Talks of a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz also hang in the balance, meaning the winner of the interim title is not guaranteed a shot at McGregor.

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Kevin Lee Thinks Demetrious Johnson Should Be ‘Thanking Him’ For UFC 216

UFC 216 headliner Kevin Lee has risen from relative obscurity to fighting for the interim lightweight title in a little over a year. Now riding an impressive five-fight win streak including four finishes in a row, Lee is set to take on Tony Ferguson in the main event of the pay-per-view (PPV) card from Las […]

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UFC 216 headliner Kevin Lee has risen from relative obscurity to fighting for the interim lightweight title in a little over a year.

Now riding an impressive five-fight win streak including four finishes in a row, Lee is set to take on Tony Ferguson in the main event of the pay-per-view (PPV) card from Las Vegas on October 7, while longtime flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson takes a back seat as he attempts to secure his record-seeking 11th title defense in a row against Ray Borg in the co-main.

While it may seem unfair for Lee to headline UFC 216 over the far more accomplished ‘Mighty Mouse,’ the Detroit, Michigan native actually sees it as favorable for the flyweight champ, who has historically not been a ratings draw compared to his fellow UFC champion colleagues.

““I think that’s the way it should be. The UFC knows that…

“Look, Demetrious if anything, Demetrious should be thanking me. He’s getting pay-per-view points for the first time in his career, and it’s going to be because of me. So, if anything, I’m looking for a lil’ Christmas gift from Demetrious… I think the demand is definitely out here, more for this fight, than especially Demetrious vs. Ray Borg. I mean come on. Demetrious has to give it up to me. I’m putting money in his pocket; how can he be upset? When we do the press conference, and I’m sitting right next to him, I’ll let him know.”

Johnson notoriously turned down a super fight with former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw in favor of a fight with the far lesser-known Borg, much to the public chagrin of UFC President Dana White.

The Borg fight was initially scheduled for September’s UFC 215; however, a last-minute illness forced the challenger out of the fight and off the card.

Whether or not Johnson’s refusal to fight Dillashaw played any part in his taking a back seat to Lee vs Ferguson remains unknown, but Lee figures his fight with Ferguson is the main event for a reason.

“I think people are excited to see more out of me, and I’m excited to show it to them. Tony, he can take a shot. He can keep moving. He even scrambles well on the ground. I feel like we will have a lot of different exchanges, a lot of momentum. I’m excited for it.”

Do you agree with Lee vs. Ferguson headlining over ‘Mighty Mouse’s attempt to make history?

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