No longer facing the grueling weight cut that came with fighting at 155 pounds, Kevin Lee expected to be a new man in his welterweight debut at UFC Rochester on Saturday night.
Instead, “The Motown Phenom” faded down the stretch and succumbed to an arm-triangle choke submission from Rafael dos Anjos at the 3:47 mark of the fourth round in the evening’s headliner at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Once viewed as one of the sport’s top rising stars, Lee has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances.
The 26-year-old was clearly disappointed in his performance, but he offered no excuses in a video post to his Instagram account.
“Don’t know what happened out there tonight. I thought I did everything right leading up to this fight,” Lee said. “Tried to eliminate every little distraction, everything that wasn’t good for me. I swear I felt like something, everything was falling into place, was talking to me even before I walked out there, and it still wasn’t enough.
This s–t sometimes be like the highest highs and lowest lows. It should really make you question what you believe in. I don’t know. I’ve been through a lot of s—t in my life. This ain’t really gonna be s–t.”
Lee didn’t offer any insight into his future plans, so it is unclear whether he will remain at 170 pounds or return for lightweight, where he previously challenged for the interim belt in October 2017.
“Thank you for the support, I feel I really got some real people behind me now,” he wrote in a caption to his post. “I apologize for not coming through. I’m good, Imma take some time to evaluate everything.”