This past October, top-ranked lightweight Kevin Lee failed to capture the interim UFC lightweight championship from Tony Ferguson this past October, as he was submitted by the jiu-jitsu specialist.
Now, Lee is ready to get back into the Octagon and will face off against striking specialist Edson Barboza at UFC Atlantic City this weekend on Saturday April 21, 2018. Barboza comes off of a lopsided defeat to current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov absolutely rag dolled Barboza around for three rounds and battered his face with ground-and-pound.
Barboza is one of, if not, the most decorated strikers in the lightweight division, and many expected him to truly test The Eagle in the stand-up department.
Instead, Khabib kept the fight on the ground and dictated the entire fight from bell to bell. Lee was recently interviewed on an episode of The MMA Hour to discuss his upcoming fight with the Brazilian.
Lee discussed Barboza's striking ability, and fully admits that he's one of the best in the division. With that being said, he sees a great deal of holes in the Brazilian's game and thinks he'll "whoop" him worse than Khabib did (quotes via MMA Mania):
“There’s holes in Edson that he shows in his fights. I am expecting the best version of him. The Khabib fight was good, but there were so many guys that did better against him.
"Khabib just kind of went out there and ran him over,” Lee declared during a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour.
“Khabib was eating a lot of shots, and was really square coming forward. I wasn’t too impressed with his (Khabib’s) performance,” he said.
“I am going to go out there and will put a whooping on him much worse than that ... and worse than what Tony gave him. Khabib beat him, but I am going to beat him in all aspects.
"Khabib did what he as going to do. If I go out there and do that, it’s going to be the same shit,” the outspoken Lightweight contender concluded.
What are your thoughts on Lee saying he thinks he can beat Edson Barboza worse than Khabib Nurmagomedov did? Do you think that The Motown Phenom can actually pull this off? And how do you think he'd fare in a fight against the current lightweight champion of the world? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!
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