Kevin Lee Hints At Jump To Welterweight After UFC 216
The UFC lightweight division now has an interim champion, and his name is Tony Ferguson.
In the main event of last night’s (Sat. October 7, 2017) UFC 216 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, No. 2-ranked Tony Ferguson and No. 7-ranked Kevin Lee put on an epic back-and-forth clash for the interim 155-pound throne. In the third round of the contest, however, Ferguson was taken down but unleashed a barrage of sharp elbows to Lee’s skull from the bottom, before locking up a triangle choke that forced “The Motown Phenom” to tap out.
Lee came into the match-up after nearly missing weight the day before. He weighed in a pound overweight before returning soon after to correct the mistake. On his walkout to the Octagon UFC commentators Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik spotted what looked to be a staff infection on Lee’s chest. In the post-fight press conference, Lee admitted he did in fact have a staff infection and that mixed with his poor weight cut hindered his performance:
“I feel like that was a huge factor,” Lee said. “The staff infection didn’t help. I’ve been fighting it for about a week now. It just didn’t make the weight cut no easier. Like I said, I’m sitting here now at about 185 pounds – little too big for the weight class now. I’ve been fighting at this weight class since I started MMA at 17, so it’s about time for me to go up and get stronger and bigger. I don’t know – I mean, maybe that played a factor but regardless Tony Ferguson was the better fighter tonight. I said it before, I thought he was the toughest fight in this division. I tried to step up and – what can I do?”
As for the staff infection, Lee admitted that he tried to keep it under wraps from the UFC and the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) in order to prevent his fight with Ferguson getting called off:
“I tried my best to hide it,” Lee admitted. “It was a big event. A lot had been happening with the UFC this past couple of events and I wasn’t going to let nobody – I worked my whole life for this. It was like a culmination of things. But, I’m not gonna let this stop me. I’m still gonna be a world champion. It might not happen when I’m 25 but -“
“The Motown Phenom” then went on to hint at a possible jump up in weight as he admitted that the cut was just too much for him at this point in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. He then called for the UFC to implement new weight classes at 165 and 175 pounds – something he will be campaigning for moving forward. For now, however, Lee is looking forward to some rest after a busy year inside the Octagon:
“I think so. I think it’s definitely time for a 165-pound weight class,” Lee said. “There’s so many guys at 155 and there’s so many guys at 170. I feel like they could really do 165 and 175. As you can see, I’m about 10 pounds bigger than Tony Ferguson anyway, just naturally. I think it’s definitely time for a 165 weight class. That’s what I’m gonna push for, but right now I just need some time. I’ve taken four fights in these last 12 months so it’s about time.”
