This past weekend’s (Sat. December 15, 2018) defeat was obviously a disappointing one for Kevin Lee. Many mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits pegged Lee as the future of the 155-pound division. While that’s still certainly a possibility, he took a back step with a unanimous decision defeat to Al Iaquinta at UFC on FOX 31 in Milwaukee.
Lee was attempting to avenge his first UFC defeat to Iaquinta from 2014. While he performed significantly better this time around, Lee wasn’t able to get the judges’ nods on the scorecards. The argument – albeit a slight one – could be made that he even should’ve won this fight. Regardless, Lee has now suffered his third Loss in the UFC, and his second in his last three fights.
Speaking on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” recently, Lee responded to a potential move up to welterweight. While he won’t rule the idea out, he sounds much more interested in the UFC implementing a new 165-pound division. “The Motown Phenom” has been a longtime supporter of this idea (via MMA Mania):
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I am kind of sitting back and still thinking about it. Weight cuts obviously play a factor in my fights,” said Lee. “I would probably rather stay at 155, just because I feel like I am really starting to get the groove of that down, now.
“I am taking a different approach to it since the Barboza fight, that’s only six or seven months, so another couple months under my belt my next one will be even better. There is some unfinished business at 155 that I got to get through.
“170 does interest me, but 165 would definitely interest me a lot more. But we will see, sit back for a bit and see how everything shakes out.”
What do you think about Lee possibly moving up to 170 pounds?
