“I feel like there’s so many opportunities in this sport and there’s a big opportunity now with PFL,” Kevin Lee told ESPN two years ago. It was the time when Jake Paul entered the roster for PFL, and the promotion began making huge waves. He even proposed that he could become the perfect opponent for ‘The Problem Child’. Of course, things didn’t really work out well for the welterweight fighter. After all, he still wanted to return to the UFC after Dana White and Co. put an abrupt end to his career in the organization in 2023. Nevertheless, ‘The Motown Phenom’ has now found a spot to compete.
You see, Lee tried to make a return to the UFC twice. He was initially released from the MMA promotion in 2021, following 2 failed attempts at fighting Sean Brady. But a unanimous decision loss at UFC Vegas 35 pushed him out of the roster completely. But he didn’t give up on his hopes. He made a return to fight Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC Vegas 76. But alas, Lee was kicked out once again after Fakhretdinov submitted him in just 55 seconds into the bout. This was his third consecutive defeat in the MMA promotion, and he had no way to make a return anymore.
In a desperate attempt, Lee even proposed a $5000 fight against a Contender Series winner. Talking to Ariel Helwani, the welterweight fighter said, “For me, money isn’t necessarily the biggest issue; I said I’d take that fight for $5k on Contender Series against the best contender they’ve got. They weren’t interested in that. Why? I don’t know. I didn’t have much conversation with UFC besides Sean Shelby, and he said he wasn’t really interested in something like that.” And when he conversed with Ali Abdelaziz, he revealed that the UFC wasn’t interested at all.
And now, following a successful stint in the Lights Out Championship in 2024, Lee has found his way to Donn Davis’ fight promotion. The famed MMA reporter, Damon Martin, recently made a huge announcement regarding Lee’s future. He tweeted, “Some #breaking news for you… UFC veteran Kevin Lee has inked a multi-fight contract to join the roster at the PFL, per sources.” Finally, after 2 failed attempts at returning to the Octagon, we can witness Lee’s wrath in the cage.
But did you know that there was a time when ‘The Motown Phenom’ wasn’t interested in fighting for PFL? Yes, you read that right! The former UFC welterweight contender had a chance to join PFL much earlier. So what stopped him from doing so previously?
Kevin Lee once despised the idea of joining Dana White and Co.’s competition
Talking to ESPN back in 2023, Kevin Lee revealed, “I was probably like two or three days away from when they made that call. Two days later and I would have signed it and we would be talking about having some kind of no-name type of fight and then working my way toward a Jake Paul [fight]. If that was the route I wanted to go down, I could have done it. Jake Paul’s a much easier fight than having to fight…” Well, he believed that fighting Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Leon Edwards was a much tougher battle than fighting at PFL.
But there was a deeper issue. He revealed that he was after a legacy. After all, he wanted his son to look up to his legacy. And according to Lee, that couldn’t have happened under the banner of PFL. He continued, “I feel like even if I would have won a PFL championship, in the back of my mind I’d still be thinking, ‘Man, I didn’t get the UFC championship. I didn’t go out on my own terms in the UFC.’ That was something that appealed to me a little bit more.”
But now, things have turned out differently. Needless to say, Lee knew that he didn’t have a good relationship with the UFC head honcho. He once claimed that he often pushed White’s buttons by saying things that he wasn’t supposed to say. And we can imagine this problem taking itself out at PFL, don’t you think? All we have to do now is wait and watch if and how the 32-year-old finds his way to the top.
What are your thoughts on Kevin Lee’s new contract with the PFL? Do you think he can leave the legacy he so earnestly seeks there? Chime in with your thoughts below!
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