Former UFC lightweight challenger Kevin Lee will return to the cage on September 28th.
The promotional officials have confirmed that Lee will be returning to MMA at the Lights Out Championship. The “Motown Phenom” will go up against Thiago Oliveira, which will be his first booking since last summer’s UFC bout. Last July, Kevin Lee faced the rising Rinat Fakhretdinov in his first fight in the cage in over a year. However, it didn’t take long for ‘Gladiator’ to score a first-round submission victory. Following the defeat, Lee laid his gloves down and retired.
However, he changed his mind earlier this year. Kevin Lee revealed plans to end his retirement and return to the UFC in February. However, the former title challenger is no longer under contract. Earlier this month, Lee stated that he was willing to fight back against the company and compete in the Contender Series if necessary. The fighter will compete in Michigan and is hoping for a win since his last decision win over Diego Sanchez in March 2022.
For his part, the lightweight[Oliveira] will enter the contest, holding a 17-12-1 professional record. Oliveira last competed at BTC 24 in June, fighting to a draw against Adam Assenza. Before this, Oliveira had an eight-fight losing streak, and a victory over Kevin Lee would be the biggest of the journeyman’s career thus far.
Kevin Lee’s fight news comes just a few days after he announced his intention to compete for Gamebred FC. Jorge Masvidal’s bare-knuckle MMA company has attracted several UFC veterans, including Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson, and Alan Belcher.
Now, Lee will be joining the upstart promotion as well. According to the former UFC title challenger, he will be competing on Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 8 in November. As of now, the 32-year-old lacks an opponent. However, before Kevin Lee can even think about fighting in bare-knuckle MMA, he has to hand Oliveira a loss later this month.
