UFC lightweight Kevin Lee believes that Conor McGregor’s loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 was great for everyone, including McGregor and himself.
Dustin Poirier entered the Octagon at UFC 257 as nearly a 3 to 1 underdog to defeat Conor McGregor in the night’s main event. He left as a man who upset the apple cart, leaving the UFC’s plans of exploring a Khabib/McGregor 2 fight in shambles right along with the biggest draw in the sport.
Kevin Lee sees things differently, though. He does not believe that Conor McGregor is worst off for this loss and that the UFC as a whole is more interesting because of his stumble.
“It shook up the game, that’s for sure,” Kevin Lee said in an interview with MMA Junkie on Monday. “It damn sure shook up the game. But it made it a little more interesting to be honest. If he would have won, I think it would have fell right in line to where you saw everything going, but that’s one of the things that we love about this game and love about MMA. You just really never know what’s gonna happen.
“So I think, if anything, his stock kind of went up still. I know a lot of people looking at it like, ‘Oh, he’s a striker, and he got knocked out, so he’s gonna be on the down for a long time.’ I think his stock kind of went up by losing. I think people want to see him lose, so they’re gonna want to see him lose again. They done got a taste of that. They’re gonna want it again.”
Kevin Lee Sees McGregor Loss As Opening For Potential Bout
Kevin Lee has always been one of the more prolific call-out artists in the UFC, and one of the names that he has often uttered is that of McGregor’s. This comes as no surprise since McGregor is undoubtedly the most called-out fighter in the history of the UFC. But Lee believes that with this loss to Dustin Poirier and McGregor dropping in the rankings, a fight between him and the Irish superstar by year’s end would make sense.
“And for me personally, him losing was great because now I can fight him sooner…” Lee said. “Go ahead and give him Nate Diaz, and then at the end of the year, me and him can get it on. That sounds like a good plan to me.”
Kevin Lee most recently lost to Charles Oliveira via submission last March and has since been recovering from an ACL injury.
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