Fresh off a massive head kick KO over Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244, lightweight contender Kevin Lee and his rival Islam Makhachev have agreed to a fight.
Immediately after Lee knocked out Gillespie, Makhachev took to his Twitter and congratulated Lee on the win and challenged him to a fight. Here’s what the Russian said.
“Congrats @MoTownPhenom you back on the winning track. Let’s do it January”
Lee later spoke to reporters backstage at UFC 244 and was told that Makhachev called him out. Lee accepted the challenge and said he wants to fight Makhachev. He even said he would like to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov’s friend in Russia (h/t RT Sport).
“I do want that fight, I wanted it in Russia. That’s the bigger fight for me. So if he wants to fight in Moscow, we can fight. I don’t know no dates or when that is, I didn’t look past this one and I didn’t think too far into the future, but yeah sure that’s a fight I’m definitely interested in. That’s another fight that’s going to remind people again and remind myself again — I don’t give a f*ck what no one else thinks — but remind myself that I’m here, and I’m here to stay,” Lee said.
The UFC is set to have a card January 18 in Las Vegas, and the Russia card with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson is rumored to take place in March. Makhachev saw the interview with Lee and told his rival that he’s open to fighting him in Vegas, London, or Moscow. Here’s what Makhachev said on Twitter.
Let’s go, Moscow, Vegas, London doesn’t matter @ufc @seanshelby @danawhite @danthehangman @felderpaul sit on the bench and watch it girls https://t.co/hLAmZViJbd
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) November 3, 2019
“Let’s go, Moscow, Vegas, London doesn’t matter @ufc @seanshelby @danawhite @danthehangman @felderpaul sit on the bench and watch it girls”
It looks like both Lee and Makhachev want this fight, and now it’s up to the UFC to go ahead and book this fight between two young lightweight contenders with momentum.
Who do you think wins a fight between Kevin Lee and Islam Makhachev?