UFC: Georges St-Pierre’s coach says Kevin Lee can become champion ‘if he’s disciplined’
- Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi thinks he’s a ‘scalpel’ and Lee is a ‘chainsaw’ – and ‘together it makes a great blend’
- ‘He had a great training team already, he just didn’t have somebody to put it all together’
Georges St-Pierre’s coach thinks Kevin Lee can be a world champion if he stays disciplined like the UFC legend.
Lee (18-5) put an exclamation point on his comeback to the lightweight division with a stunning head kick KO of previously undefeated prospect Gregor Gillespie.
It was his first fight working with Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi, coming off losses to Al Iaquinta at 155 pounds and Rafael dos Anjos at 170, and the improvement was plain to see.
“He had a great training team already. He just didn’t have somebody to put it all together,” Zahabi told UFC commentator Joe Rogan on a recent episode of the JRE MMA Show.
“We’re talking about styles and level – his personality, he’s a bit of a wildcat. He’s a commando. Me, I’m the opposite – I’m calculated, I’m a scalpel. He’s a chainsaw. Together it makes a great blend, because you need both.
“There’s a time and a place for both. So his last fight I was happy he stayed disciplined, very disciplined. He can become a world champion if he’s disciplined, because Georges was very disciplined. He [Lee] didn’t veer off the game plan at all, and he got the job done.”
UFC: Kevin Lee wants Conor McGregor next
Zahabi said facing the “dangerous” Gillespie was “not a good comeback fight” but that Lee showed tremendous dedication in camp.
“He was very focused for this one, for the whole training camp,” Zahabi said. “I was very happy, because I like guys who come to the gym and work, that don’t skip practice.
“If guys tell me, ‘I’m not coming it today’ for whatever reason … OK, if you don’t wanna be in, you don’t wanna be in. I’ll tell them, ‘Look, I think you should be in’. But you don’t wanna come in, what can I do?
“But he [Lee] was very disciplined. He came to all the practices. And it worked out beautifully.”
