Although his UFC departure left a sour taste in his mouth, Kevin Lee says he’ll be making bank in his new home.
After getting released by the UFC, Lee (18-7) signed a multi-fight deal with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC promotion. The former interim lightweight title challenger claims that for his debut fight against fellow UFC veteran Diego Sanchez in March, he’ll be making more than some UFC champions.
“We know that the best fighters aren’t always in the UFC,” Lee told MMA Junkie Radio. “There are some guys out in Russia that will beat the f*ck out of you, so my competitiveness in me just drives me to be even better than them – and that’s just a never-ending process. It’s not like now I can chill, now I’m making a bunch of money, now I can go out there and just have fun. No – this is a fight. This is a fight for your life at the end of the day.
“People lose their life doing this type of sh*t, so the competitor in me is still up there and still driving. I’m making a bunch of money, though. That’s the part I’m not upset about. My contract will make more than most UFC champions see, so that part is kind of nice. But the competitor in me still thinks it’s the same game. … I’m going to make more than UFC champions in my first fight, so we’re having fun.”
Lee will be debuting in the promotion’s new 165-pound division against Sanchez in the Eagle FC 46 headliner March 11 and wants to be the one who kickstarts the weight class.
It’s no secret Lee had issues on the scale during his tenure in the UFC, prompting him to move back-and-forth from lightweight to welterweight. But now that he’s found a middle ground at Eagle FC, he wants to be the face of the 165-pound division.
“The best part is getting to make history – getting to be able to be the one to pioneer this division,” Lee said. “I think it’s going to be something that we can look back on and say, ‘Oh, OK – this is where it all started.’ The rumblings kind of started in 2017 when we started talking about it first, and it took us five, six years to actually do it, and I think it’ll be another three, four years before it’s really implemented. It’s like the time before where there was no 155, there was no 145, there was no 135 and now you’re seeing all these things start to implement. So to be on the forefront of the 165, it gives me a little more drive in order to get it done.”
