UFC: Kevin Lee says he may require ‘a few years’ of self-evaluation after losing to Charles Oliveira in Brazil
- Lightweight Lee says his third-round submission loss was owing to him ‘abandoning’ the coaches’ game plan
- The 27-year-old apologises for missing weight and says he needs time to ‘evaluate some things’
It has not been a good week for lightweight contender Kevin Lee, who suffered from a bone bruise in training, missed weight by 3.5 pounds, and lost to opponent Charles Oliveira on Sunday.
Brazilian Oliveira (29-8, 1NC) submitted Lee (18-6) in the third round of the pair’s UFC Fight Night 170 headline bout in Brasilia. The event was unprecedentedly held in front of an empty stadium owing to fears over the coronavirus.
“I think I gotta evaluate some things. I felt like my camp was great, and my coaches told me all the right things to do, [but] I abandoned it,” said the 27-year-old Lee to MMA Fighting. “It’s all on me on this one. It’s going to be maybe a few years or so ... it was a hard, quick fight. I felt like the fight was just getting started.”
Reporters were taken aback by Lee’s comments but he explained the difficult lead-up to the fight, which included a tough weight cut and a well-documented bone bruise suffered a few days out from the Oliveira fight.