Kevin Lee Says he Was Too Emotional Going Into UFC 216

Kevin Lee admits his preparation for Tony Ferguson was not ideal.

Lee took on Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight title in the main event of UFC 216. “The Motown Phenom” had his moments, but was submitted in the third round.

Lee had a noticeable staph infection on his pectoral. This followed a tough weight cut, where Lee had to be given a second attempt to make the weight. The lightweight mentioned prior that he had 19 pounds to cut before weigh-in day.

During a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour,” Lee said the tough weight cut caused him to lose focus:

“I think that’s what made me be in such a high state. You could see it at the weigh ins that I was in a heightened state and maybe I was a little bit too emotional. I think that has something to do with it because I gave so much to the weight cut. I honestly just forgot about the fight during that process so, when I got into it and I saw Tony in front of me there was nothing but anger and emotion. Now that I’ve been through that, I feel I’ll do a better job of handling that going forward.”