Kevin Lee’s Hope for UFC Return Slammed Shut as Dana White Contender Series Verdict Given by Fans

With a career record of 19 victories and 8 losses, Kevin Lee‘s MMA journey has been going downhill since his fight against Charles Oliveira back in 2020. The Detroit, Michigan native was a phenomenon during his winning streak. However, things took a turn for the worse later in his career, Lee is 2-4 in his last six MMA fights and he has no incoming fights on his hands as well. The situation is so drastic for the former UFC lightweight interim title contender that he is considering fighting at the DWCS to get back in the promotion.

The former interim lightweight challenger re-signed with the promotion back in 2023 but a submission loss at the hands of Rinat Fakhretdinov coerced him to take an early retirement from his career. Well, it took ‘The Motown Phenom’ just six months to change his mind as Lee has asserted that he would like to fight under the promotion once again even if it means fighting on DWCS.

During his back-and-forth on the ‘Anik & Florian’ podcast, Kevin Lee emphasized that he would like to witness the adrenaline of fighting under the promotion again even if it means fighting under DWCS, “My real love is MMA. I want to compete again. And just to show how serious I am, I even told Sean Shelby that I’m willing to go on Dana White’s Contender Series to show how serious I am about competing at a high level.”

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He further added, “This next fight will be not about money or anything else, but to show that I can compete and my body can hold up against the tension I’m putting it under. He said no, but I was willing to do it. It’s $5,000 flat – that’s all you get. For $5,000 bucks, we’re losing money. But I’m still willing to do it.”

Polls of the dayDo you think Kevin Lee deserves another shot in the UFC?

Only if Dana White agrees

What do you think of Raul Rosas Jr.’s “Chiwiwis” catchphrase?

Whats your Perspective on:Did Kevin Lee ever really have what it takes to be a UFC star, or was he overrated?

Have an interesting take?What do you think of Ronaldo “Lazy Boy” Rodriguez’s nickname?

Who do you think is Sean O’Malley’s most intimidating rival?

An ap͏pea͏ra͏nc͏e on th͏e Dana͏ White͏ Conte͏nd͏e͏r͏ S͏erie͏s would result in a͏ ͏͏signi͏ficant pay decre͏ase for t͏he fighte͏r who was a ͏forme͏r int͏erim͏ l͏ightwei͏ght t͏itl͏e͏ conte͏n͏der and h͏as h͏eadlined fi͏v͏e͏ e͏͏vents f͏or th͏e promot͏i͏on͏. Kevin Lee is willing to take the risk and fight but according to the MMA community, this idea is nothing but a drastic step from the fighter.

UFC fans are not impressed with Kevin Lee over his DWCS confessionWhat’s your perspective on:

Did Kevin Lee ever really have what it takes to be a UFC star, or was he overrated?

Have an interesting take?Kevin Lee’s career has been on a downward trajectory for quite some time now and with no fights on his hands, Lee’s desperate attempt to get back to the UFC has been called out by the fans. A social media fan added, “I see holes in his plan” referring to the time Lee commented on Khabib Nurmagomedov, saying ‘I see holes in his game.’ It must also be noted that Lee was supposed to fight in a grappling match against Chad Mendes but it had to be canceled.

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DWCS episodes seldom have any views as this is just the starting point for potential champions to fight under the promotion. Jailton Almeida, Jamahal Hill, and Sean O’Malley are some of the biggest names who started their UFC career at DWCS. Regardless, a curious fan stated, “It would be the highest rated episode of DWCS.”

Furthermore, a fan showcased the reality in front of the fighter, “That’s very admirable of you, but the Contender series is meant for non-experienced guys to find a way in. Not washed up veterans.”

Kevin Lee’s fight with Charles Oliveira was a career-ending clash for the fighter as ‘Do Bronx’ nearly decimated Lee’s knees,“Charles destroyed both my knees in the first round of this fight and we kept fighting, three knee surgeries since and I’m still recovering four years later,” said Lee. In addition to that ACL surgery has been breaking the momentum of the fighter, looking at his situation a fan added “i feel for him man. no exaggeration i think he’s on ACL surgery number 4, i believe he’s had 2 huge knee surgeries on both knees.”

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Moreover, a social media user appears to be a bit sarcastic, “I guess DWCS is where Kevin Lee fits into after all.” Last but not least, another fan added the same thing, “Kevin Lee found where he fits in – the contender series”

What’s your take on Kevin Lee’s decision to get back to the UFC? State your thoughts in the comments below.