5 Defining Moments: Kevin Lee

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Kevin Lee’s once-promising career has turned into something of a rollercoaster ride, marked by main event successes and high-profile failures.

The Tristar Gym representative will return to the Octagon for the first time in more than a year when he confronts the undefeated Sean Brady in a UFC 264 welterweight showcase on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena. After kicking off his Ultimate Fighting Championship run with a stellar 9-2 record, Lee has begun to drift in the wrong direction. The 28-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan, native has lost four of his past six bouts, his victories over Edson Barboza and Gregor Gillespie offset by defeats to Tony Ferguson, Al Iaquinta, Rafael dos Anjos and Charles Oliveira.

As Lee prepares for his pivotal showdown with Brady, a look at five of the moments that have come to define him:

1. Last Rung

His career on an upward trajectory as an undefeated prospect, Lee climbed the final rung on the regional MMA ladder when he submitted Eric Moon with a standing guillotine choke to win the Total Warrior Combat lightweight championship at TWC 20 on Nov. 16, 2013 at the Best Western Plus in Lansing, Michigan. Moon bowed out 1:24 into Round 1. Lee set the tone with his lightning-quick jab, power punches and a body kick. He cut off an attempted single-leg takedown from Moon, pinned him to the fence and anchored himself to the mat, all while sliding the choke into place. The tapout followed soon after. The respectful Moon strapped the championship to Lee’s waist himself before exiting the cage. Less than three months later, “The Motown Phenom” made his UFC debut.

2. Marquee Moment

Lee talked the talk and walked the walk in his first main event assignment, as he submitted Michael Chiesa with a rear-naked choke in the UFC Fight Night 112 headliner on June 25, 2017 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. Referee Mario Yamasaki called for the stoppage 4:37 into Round 1, even though Chiesa neither tapped nor lost consciousness. Despite the officiating gaffe, Lee appeared to be seconds away from the finish. Chiesa had no answers for the combination of speed, skill and athleticism “The Motown Phenom” brought to the table. Lee executed a takedown inside the first 90 seconds, settled in top position after denying an attempted triangle choke and ultimately climbed to the back. His position secured with a body triangle, he drew blood with heavy ground-and-pound and snaked his arms into place for the choke. Soon after, Yamasaki was on the scene to rescue Chiesa, “The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner’s protests falling on deaf ears.

3. A Visit from the Boogeyman

Ferguson laid claim to the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title when he submitted Lee with a triangle choke in the third round of their UFC 216 main event on Oct. 7, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “The Motown Phenom” conceded defeat 4:02 into Round 3, his five-fight winning streak having run its course. Lee pushed “El Cucuy” to the limit in the first round, where he delivered a takedown, climbed to mount and unleashed a torrent of punches and elbows. The barrage might have finished a lesser man. Ferguson shrugged. Lee’s pace slowed noticeably in the second, and he continued to deteriorate physically in the third. There, he executed two takedowns but lacked the energy to consolidate them with damage. Ferguson nearly tapped him with an armbar before catching the triangle and eliciting the tapout.

4. Barbaric Brutality

In the kind of star-making performance that Lee had long sought, “The Motown Phenom” mauled Barboza across 20-plus minutes, kept his name on a short list of top-shelf Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights and forced a fifth-round stoppage in the UFC Fight Night 128 main event on April 21, 2018 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Having suffered a horrendous cut above his right eye, Barboza bowed out 2:18 into Round 5. Outside of a spinning heel kick that set Lee on skates in the third round, the former Ring of Combat champion offered little in the way of meaningful offense. Lee outlanded the Brazilian by wide margins in terms of total strikes (233-64) and significant strikes (142-51). He secured four takedowns, executed 11 guard passes and battered Barboza with a sustained barrage of ground-and-pound that led to the finish. Lee was particularly dominant in the first, second and fourth rounds.

5. Caught in a Snare

Oliveira extended his Ultimate Fighting Championship record for submission wins to 14, as he dispatched the Tristar Gym export with a guillotine choke in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 170 headliner on March 14, 2020 at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil. Lee—who missed weight for the match by more than two pounds—conceded defeat 28 seconds into Round 3 in what was his fourth setback in six appearances. Oliveira throughout the first five minutes set the tone with a hyperactive submission game, alternating between leg locks and triangle chokes while his counterpart attempted to navigate his venomous guard. Lee bounced back in a far more competitive second round, only to be undone by a brief moment of carelessness in the third. He ducked into the choke, found himself hopelessly entangled in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s clutches and became the fifth man to tap to an Oliveira guillotine inside the Octagon, joining Jonathan Brookins, Nik Lentz, Myles Jury and Clay Guida.