Kevin Lee came up short in his quest to become the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion at UFC 216 after he was submitted in the third round by Tony Ferguson.
The title contender has visible signs of a staph infection on his upper body during the fight and Lee is quite annoyed that color commentator Joe Rogan mentioned it during the broadcast.
“It kind of takes away from it, and it kind of takes away from Tony too,” Lee said on The MMA Hour. “I thought Tony did a great job, even with the staph infection. It kind of takes a little bit away from our performance. But look, it’s the truth, and it is what it is. I always like to do that with people, I always like to tell people the way it is, so I can’t really hold it against him. I was a little annoyed at first that he would bring it up, but it’s clear.”
Lee actually hid the staph infection from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) and even Ferguson said he targeted the infection during the fight.
Speaking of the NSAC, the lightweight fighter does admit that he knows his decision to hide the infection gave them a little bit of backlash.
“They got a little bit of backlash for letting me fight, but they were mostly just concerned about the weight,” Lee said. “I think I did a pretty good job of hiding it. I felt like I did a good job of using makeup and trying to hide the best that I could. It wasn’t really their fault. “
Although he just fought for the interim lightweight title, the Detroit native’s next move may be to the welterweight division.
