Kevin Lee’s return to the UFC’s Octagon could come very soon.
It’s looking like the top two prospects to face Lee in his return are Al Iaquinta and Justin Gaethje. In Lee’s last outing he completely dominated Edson Barboza for five rounds before the doctor stopped the contest late in the round.
Iaquinta is undoubtably one of the tougher competitors at 155 pounds. Recently he had a five-fight win streak snapped by Khabib Nurmagomedov. “Ragin” stepped in on late notice to fight the Russian but was defeated via unanimous decision after five rounds.
Finally, Gaethje has also proven himself as an elite fighter at lightweight. The former World Series Of Fighting (WSOF) lightweight champ joined the UFC in 2017. He debuted with an amazing second round knockout of Michael Johnson.
Gaethje went on to suffer back-to-back defeats to Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez. They were the first losses of his career. Last weekend Gaethje bounced back with a hellacious first round thrashing of James Vick.
Kevin Lee was watching that fight, and he had a smile from ear to ear. If it were up to Lee, he’d be fighting “The Highlight” next. However, it looks like the UFC could instead angle for a fight with Iaquinta.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Lee admitted he thinks Gaethje would be the tougher fight of the two:
“Gaethje for sure is the harder fight. Al’s been doing the same things. Al’s been out selling houses and shit over in New York.
“He can go back to doing that, laying out the cookies, you know, sending the text messages and passing out the flyers at his local little grocery store and stuff.
“See if he can get some more going on with that. He’s been more worried that than actually fighting. He’s been more worried more about going back and forth on Twitter.
“Justin’s been working this whole time. Justin’s definitely the harder fight, and that’s what appeals to me more. I want the harder fight. That’s the way it’s been for my whole career.
“I always want the biggest challenges possible, and this is no different. If Gaethje is gonna be the bigger challenge it’s gonna wake me up more in the morning. It’s gonna be the longer road to the top for sure, but I’ve always taken the long road cause that’s the better road.”
Discussion: What do you think of Lee picking Gaethje over Iaquinta as the most difficult fight for him? Sound off in the comments!
