It looks like there’s a rivalry brewing between top lightweight contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kevin Lee.
Things kicked off when Lee, 25, criticized Khabib’s dominant win over Edson Barboza at UFC 219, stating that the undefeated Dagestani ‘looked terrible’ in the co-main event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
“I wasn’t too impressed with Khabib,” Lee told MMA Fighting at a UFC 222 media scrum earlier this month. “I’m gonna do ten times the work on Edson [at UFC Atlantic City] Khabib looked terrible in that fight. He was just barreling straight forward like a tank.”
That’s when Nurmagomedov, the top-ranked UFC lightweight contender, called ‘The Motown Phenom’ a fake tough-guy and said he has a ‘very small heart’.
It didn’t take long for Lee to catch wind of Khabib’s latest comments and post a reply on social media.
Lee, who lost in an interim title bout to Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, took aim at Nurmagomedov’s missed weight cuts and accused ‘The Eagle’ of bitching out of fights.
I actually showed up and made weight through an infection @TeamKhabib. You sign contracts and still find a way to bitch out. FOH https://t.co/WS72wMuXLD
— Kevin MTP Lee (@MoTownPhenom) March 19, 2018
Nurmagomedov was originally booked to fight Ferguson at UFC 209 but was forced to withdraw at the last minute after suffering a devastating weight cut on the eve of the event. The 29-year-old was hospitalized during his weight cut but returned to top form against Barboza last year.
Nurmagomedov has been rescheduled to challenge Ferguson for the ‘undisputed’ lightweight title at UFC 223. The PPV extravaganza takes place next month, April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Lee, who is ranked in the top-eight, expects to fight Conor McGregor by the end of the year in hopes of securing a championship rematch with Ferguson.
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