TBF, he’s already been in the UFC. Go get some solid wins, and they’ll bring him back.
Former UFC lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee has opened up on his MMA comeback.
‘The Motown Phenom’ famously retired from fighting following a first-round submission loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov in July 2023. Just one fight into his second stint with the UFC, Kevin Lee decided to hang up the gloves for good. However, like many, many retirements in MMA, this one didn’t stick. Just months after retiring, Lee announced plans for a comeback.
However, he seemingly became a free agent following his announced retirement. Kevin Lee quickly signaled interest in a third stint with the UFC, even offering to earn his way through the Dana White Contender Series. While that show is largely reserved for young talent on the rise, the 32-year-old would fight there if needed.
However, the former UFC title challenger’s offer went unheard. He competed at Lights Out Championship in September, scoring a submission win over Thiago Oliveira. Late last year, Kevin Lee was announced as one of the many signings to the newly founded Global Fight League promotion. Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s podcast earlier today, ‘The Motown Phenom’ discussed his decision to sign.
Kevin Lee reveals UFC and Sean Shelby rejected an offer to compete in Contender Series
There, Kevin Lee revealed that he spoke with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby about a potential return. However, the organization wasn’t very interested in re-signing the 32-year-old former title challenger. Even though Lee was willing to fight in Dana White’s Contender Series, the promotion still passed.
“I really want to compete, you know?” Kevin Lee stated, when asked about talks with the UFC. “Money isn’t really the biggest issue, I said I would take a fight for $5,000 on the Contender Series. I’ll fight the best contender they feel like they have out there. They weren’t interested in that, why, I don’t know. Honestly, I didn’t have much conversation with the UFC besides Sean Shelby.”
He continued, “He said he wasn’t really interested in doing something like that. When I talked to Ali [Abdelaziz], Ali tells me anything about the UFC, and he told me they weren’t interested at all. Why that is? I couldn’t tell you. I’ve been part of some of the biggest fights in UFC history, I’ve finished off their Fox deal going into their ESPN deal, and I feel like I’m a pretty easy guy to work with… I don’t know. But I’ll make sure this next time, there is no doubt.”
NO DOUBT
Its Like Going Back To The Farm League
GFL BRO
Losing your job sucks a lot more when you realize you don’t have any transferable skills.
This all happened after his head-helmet-samuria-tattoo…jiri,vulk and lee have all been cursed by japanese ancestors…poatan was rt…you must pray to “your” ancestors and not others…
Knew This was coming
Too Kevin credit, he landed a headkick KO more “epic” than Williams over Coleman…
It’s sad to see a fighter who was once so promising hit the skids & be relegated to the minor league promotions. But it’s understandable why the UFC brass doesn’t want him anymore as he’s barely been able to stay at .500 since the Ferguson fight.
He’ll always have that Gillespie moment though. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get any momentum off of it though.
Maybe the UFC should hire the guy that dropped him because they ain’t hiring Lee again.