Kevin Lee will have his work cut out for him when he returns to 170 pounds against promising prospect Sean Brady.
ESPN has reported that both sides have verbally agreed to the bout, which will take place on July 10 at UFC 264 in Las Vegas.
Former UFC interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee previously dipped his toe in the welterweight division in 2019, losing to Rafael Dos Anjos via fourth-round submission. At the time, he said his decision to move up in weight was spurred by his frustration with the “politics” of the lightweight division.
Kevin Lee’s Weight and Injury struggles
The 28-year-old’s decision to move up can also be put down to his history of struggling to make the lightweight 155 pound cut-off. For his 2018 fight with Edson Barboza, Lee weighed in one pound over the limit. And in his most recent fight against now lightweight champ Charles Olivera in March 2020, the Motown Phenom tipped the scales 2.5 pounds overweight. He lost the fight via third-round submission.
On July 10, Lee will be making a comeback to the octagon after spending more than a year out thanks to suffering ACL tears in both knees. During his downtime, he’s evidently had a chance to adorn the back of his head with a charming new tattoo.
Fans will no doubt look forward to the debut of this:
A Tough Test Ahead for Kevin Lee
Lee will need to be in formidable form for his return bout against the undefeated Sean Brady.
Brady, 28, has amassed an impressive 14-wins in his professional MMA career. The #13 ranked UFC welterweight garnered praise after his dominant performance on the early prelims of UFC 259, defeating Australian Jake Matthews via submission.
It was his fourth win since his UFC debut in 2019, having previously defeated Christian Aguilera, Ismail Naurdiev and Court McGree.
With this bout added, the UFC 264 card now includes:
- Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
- Gilbert Burns vs. Stephen Thompson
- Sean O’Malley vs. Louis Smolka
- Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria
- Jessica Eye vs. Jennifer Maia
- Jerome Rivera vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Omari Akhmedov vs. Brad Tavares
- Greg Hardy vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Kevin Lee vs. Sean Brady
What do you think? Will Kevin Lee be victorious on his return to the welterweight division?
