On June 25th, streaking lightweights Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee will step into the Octagon for a pivotal showdown for these two top ranked lightweights.
The UFC announced the matchup on Twitter, where they also revealed that the fight would serve as the main event scrap to an already stacked card which features the likes of BJ Penn vs. Dennis Siver, Tim Boetsch vs. Johny Hendricks, and Felice Herrig vs. Justin Kish to name just a few of the high-profile fights on the card.
Your #UFCOKC main event: @MikeMav22 takes on @MoTownPhenom in a lightweight showdown!! pic.twitter.com/8YLeCpWZXQ
— UFC (@ufc) March 31, 2017
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Chiesa of course is on a 3-fight win streak, one that saw him rebound from his controversial loss to Joe Lauzon by picking up a unanimous decision win over Mitch Clarke before then picking up back to back submission wins over Jim Miller and Beneil Dariush respectively. Since his loss to Dariush however, Chiesa has been absent from the Octagon. Now, with a year-long layoff under his belt, Chiesa will step into the Octagon with the ‘Motown Phenom’ Kevin Lee.
Lee is currently riding a 4-fight win streak that has seen him look all but unstoppable over the course of the last several years. After dropping his UFC debut to Al Iaquinta in 2014, Lee bounced back to win 4 straight, defeating Jesse Ronson, Jon Tuck, Michael Prazeres, and James Moontasri before suffering the second loss of his UFC career at the hands of Leonardo Santos in 2015. Since then, Lee has been on a tear, going 4-0 by picking up a unanimous decision over Efrain Escudero, followed by a 1st round TKO win over Jake Matthews, and most recently back to back submission wins over Magomed Mustaev, and Francisco Trinaldo.
Who do you have winning this pivotal light heavyweight showdown? Give us your predictions in the comments section below!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/31/2017.