Kevin Lee has explained how returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship right now would hurt his leverage.

It’s been a while since we saw Kevin Lee in the UFC. The former lightweight title challenger left the company in late 2021 after suffering a loss to Daniel Rodriguez. Ever since then, he’s only had one fight – defeating Diego Sanchez in Eagle FC last March.

The 30-year-old has often been viewed as a tremendous prospect within the landscape of mixed martial arts. However, it’s safe to say he hasn’t been living up to the hype ever since his initial rise to an interim title opportunity.

Many are wondering what his next move will be in MMA. As per the man himself, he isn’t overly interested in an immediate return to the UFC.

“That’s been floated out there a few times, and I have thought about it, but I’m not putting energy toward it, to be honest with you,” Lee said. “I feel like there’s so many opportunities in this sport and there’s a big opportunity now with PFL. You know, they just signed Jake Paul. They’re making a lot of waves outside of the fighting realm, outside of the bubble the UFC has created.

Lee calls his shot

“There’s a lot of opportunity outside of it and I’m one of the most experienced guys. You can’t look at anybody who’s unsigned from the UFC that has my record, has fought the people that I’ve fought, and has my age and my upside to me, either. So I would almost be hurting my leverage if I was just to straight go back with the UFC right now.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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