Months ahead of his Global Fight League debut, former UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee is seen badly hurt in sparring.
‘The Motown Phenom’ Lee suffered a remarkable fall from grace in the UFC, being released after going 1-4 from 2018 to 2023. He was choked unconscious in his last dance in the promotion but returned to his winning ways with a submission over a 17-12-1 journeyman in Lights Out Championship in 2024.
Lee joined the GFL draft in January and believes he can continue this success in 2025. Despite this, fans are concerned after startling sparring footage emerged.
Kevin Lee almost knocked out in new sparring footage
Lee is seen getting dropped by a monstrous overhand right in sparring, shared in an Instagram story by RIZIN fighter Magerram Gasanzade.
In the video, Lee attempts a non-serious flying knee, almost to feint into his sparring partner’s space; He drops his guard while in motion, and his sparring partner launches a cruel right hand that spins his head on the axle.
Nearly faceplanting, Lee finds himself to one knee but can barely stand. Former UFC champion Robbie Lawler intervened, telling Lee to “Walk it off.”
Fans react to ‘disgraceful sparring partner’ dropping Kevin Lee in video
Fan consensus is that Lee’s sparring partner used bad etiquette.
“Disgraceful sparring partner, he knew exactly what he was doing. Who is that?” One user wrote.
“Why are you throwing that hard in sparring?” Another wrote.
“Sparring partner’s a d—, and that knee was so light it doesn’t warrant that counter,” Another commented.
Another said, “Sparring in headgear and throwing like that [shaking my head]. Hope he got kicked out the gym.”
“Can’t make out who’s in the head gear but this looks like a legit dog act,” One user commented. “Unless there’s some real beef between the two and Kevin had it coming, but on the surface it looks cheap…”