Kevin Lee

Overview

Four submission wins, four submission losses. Kevin Lee's UFC career is a ledger that balances on the mat. "The Motown Phenom" is a Detroit-born welterweight out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, with an 11-8 UFC record, seven finishes and a five-fight win streak at his peak.

He is not a one-note grappler, though. Three of his UFC wins came by KO/TKO, including a fifth-round finish in a five-round main event.

He carries a three-fight losing streak into his next fight.

UFC Career

Lee debuted on January 31, 2014 with a unanimous decision loss to Al Iaquinta at UFC 169. He followed it with three decision wins, the first over Jesse Ronson by split decision, then over Jon Tuck and Michel Prazeres. A first-round submission of James Moontasri in July 2015 made it four straight wins.

Leonardo Santos stopped him in the first round at UFC 194. Lee answered with the longest run of his career: five consecutive wins from 2016 to 2018. They included a first-round TKO of Jake Matthews, a submission of Francisco Trinaldo and a main event submission of Michael Chiesa.

Tony Ferguson ended that run with a third-round submission in the UFC 216 main event. Lee rebounded with a fifth-round TKO of Edson Barboza, then dropped a five-round decision to Iaquinta in a rematch. Rafael Dos Anjos submitted him in the fourth round of another five-round main event.

After a first-round KO of Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244, Lee has not won since. Charles Oliveira submitted him in 28 seconds of the third round, and Daniel Rodriguez took a decision. Rinat Fakhretdinov then submitted him in the first round, at 0:55.

The peak was real. So is the slide.

Fighting Style

Lee is a wrestler who also lands. He is a busy striker, shoots for takedowns far more than most, and is hard to take down himself. He stays active on the mat as well and hunts for submissions.

His defense on the feet is ordinary, so he takes damage while he works. He gets hit about as often as the UFC average and defends strikes about as well as the typical fighter.

Four of his seven finishes came by submission, and four of the seven came in the first round.

The losses show the cost of that approach. Four of his eight UFC defeats came by submission.

Notable Wins

• Francisco Trinaldo — submission, round 2, UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum (2017)
• Michael Chiesa — submission, round 1, UFC Fight Night: Chiesa vs. Lee (2017)
• Edson Barboza — KO/TKO, round 5, UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee (2018)
• Gregor Gillespie — KO/TKO, round 1, UFC 244 (2019)

Quick Facts

• Division: Welterweight
• UFC record: 11-8
• Professional record (all promotions): 18-8-0
• UFC debut: 2014
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 5'10" / 77"
• Team: Xtreme Couture, Las Vegas, NV
• Born: Detroit, United States