Kevin Lee, one of the most compelling fighters on the UFC roster, he's young, overly talented, and charismatic. His tenure in the UFC is remarkable from the contender series back in 2014, multiple performances of the night bonus wins and highlight finishes. No one can doubt the skills of Kevin Lee, yet he's had some turbulence on his road to UFC gold in some of the biggest fights of his career he's come up in the loser's column (lessons column, if ya know good). I'm talking about heartbreaking losses in championship implication fights: see Tony Ferguson and Charles Do Bronx Oliveira.
In this new chapter of Lee's career, he's moving back up to Welterweight. In my opinion, it is a great move with less weight cutting for Lee, something he's been vocal about with the UFC needing to add a 165 weight division, and that doesn't seem like it's on UFC's agenda so the move to Welterweight is the best choice. Competing at Welterweight Kevin Lee is making the right moves picking top opponents not ranked too high but their names hold heavy weight. We thought he would be facing Sean Brady, but that fight got canceled not once but twice due to injury on both sides.
With all the setbacks, it's time for Lee to cash in big! He's going to be fighting a dangerous opponent
Daniel Rodriguez (15 - 2). WHO?! I know, I know. Daniel Rodriguez if you don't know is coming off a big 1st round KO victory and before that, Rodriguez decimated Mike Perry over 3 rounds. He's able to end the hot streak of Kevin Lee with his strong boxing background. Rodriguez has composure and is ready to go a full fifteen minutes. August 28th is the date set for this fight headlined by Barboza and Chikadze. There are two Kevin Lee's I've seen, the explosive dynamic Kevin Lee, then there's the Kevin Lee who gets pressured and gasses out. I think a lot of it is mental, and without him cutting as much weight I'm hoping to see a great overall performance from Lee.