Kevin Lee is not happy about the sendoff Michael Chiesa got from the UFC in his final fight. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say Lee is unhappy about the sendoff he didn’t get in his final fight.
Lee competed in the UFC lightweight and welterweight division’s for many years. At his best, he picked up wins over the likes of Edson Barboza, and even battled Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight belt, though he came up short. Another highlight of Lee’s UFC run was a first-round submission win in a grudge match with Michael Chiesa. However, he has not fought for the promotion since he was wiped out by Rinat Fakhretdinov in less than a minute several years back.
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Chiesa, meanwhile, has been with the UFC for years. On the main card of last Saturday’s event in Seattle, he retired following a submission win over Niko Price. It was a beautiful moment for him, as he is from the Seattle area, and had his friends and loved ones in the building to watch. The UFC also gave him a lot of love on the broadcast.
That all rubbed Lee the wrong way. He seems to feel he deserved a special sendoff of his own. He made his argument in a post on X.
Kevin Lee lashes out at UFC for Michael Chiesa sendoff
“I beat Chiesa in his most high profile fight in the first round,” Lee wrote. “He got a hero’s send off in the UFC, fought another retiring fighter in his hometown, mom, wife everybody there to watch his life story.
“My last fight in UFC was on the prelim of an Apex Card during Covid against an undefeated up and coming Russian. Chiesa tried to fight me in the locker room before the fight I didn’t say a word.
“Cold game fam.”
Needless to say, Lee is feeling a bit mistreated.
“The Motown Phenom” has fought twice since his latest UFC loss. First, he scored a first-round submission win over Thiago Oliveira at a local show not far from his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He then signed with the PFL, and was matched up with top contender Gadzhi Rabadanov. In that fight, he was battered to a first-round TKO loss.
I dont recall kevin lee being a member of the desk and commentary team… maybe it has something to do with that…
Kevin Lee believes he knows where his UFC career went wrong — and he thinks it had everything to do with his personal politics.
Lee competed in the UFC lightweight and welterweight divisions for years. He never got his hands on a title, but he did come up short in an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, and defeated top foes like Edson Barboza and Michael Chiesa.
Despite his various successes in the Octagon, it’s fair to say Lee’s time with the UFC ended pretty unceremoniously. He first parted ways with the promotion following losses to Charles Oliveira and Daniel Rodriguez in 2021. After beating Diego Sanchez in a smaller show, he returned, only to suffer a brutal first-round loss to dangerous Russian contender Rinat Fakhretdinov.
The fight with Fakhretdinov in particular was a very tough matchup for Lee. Whether that was by design or not, he feels he was not given a fair shake by the promotion. He believes that’s because he backed Bernie Sanders, and avoided a meeting with President Donald Trump. Trump, of course, is a close friend of UFC President Dana White, and has been heavily supported by White and the promotion in recent years.
Here’s how Lee explained it:
Kevin Lee claims UFC punished him for snubbing Donald Trump
This was very funny, both at the time and in hindsight.
Kevin Lee has always moved like his was a champ but without the wins and record to match.
I have nothing against it but I did think it was kind of strange he got such a big sendoff.
Always the victim
Kevin just can’t admit that beating Chiesa was his peak. Chiesa was in the UFC for 14 years, won TUF and ironically beat 3 guys who beat Kevin.
Kevin, you fucked up talking about his momma
well chiesa was going into it knowing it was jis last fight, and won with a quick finish
lee got finished and cut
maybe if he announced it was gonna be his retirement fight, and won big, he woulda had a big sendoff
That is the only reason MC ever got anything.
People once said Kevin could possibly beat khabib with his style
What a whiny faggot