Former interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee is
coming back to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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“The Motown Phenom” revealed to
ESPN that he has signed an exclusive deal with the Las
Vegas-based promotion and expects to return to the Octagon sometime
in the spring.
“I met with [president] Dana White and [chief business officer]
Hunter
Campbell, and I feel like I’m going back home,” Lee told ESPN
in a statement. “I’m grateful for them welcoming me back and
looking forward to the next chapter of my career.”
Lee was released from the UFC in 2021 after losing five of his last
seven promotional appearances. He has fought once since then,
taking a unanimous decision triumph against Diego
Sanchez at Eagle FC 46 in March 2022.
Prior to that slump, Lee was regarded as a rising star after
winning nine of his first 11 UFC bouts. That culminated in a
showdown against Tony
Ferguson for interim 155-pound gold at UFC 216, where Lee lost
via third-round submission.