Kevin Lee came up short in his attempt to become the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion when he was submitted in the third round by Tony Ferguson at UFC 216.
The lightweight nearly missed weight for the fight and even showed signs of a staph infection when he stepped into the Octagon. Despite all of that, the Nevada Executive Director in Bob Bennett says the fighter was deemed medically fit to fight this past Saturday Night.
“My lead ringside physician found Lee medically fit to fight,” Bennett said to MMA Fighting. “He was examined by our lead ringside physician, along with another ringside physician. Both felt he was medically fit to fight.”
Lee was granted an extra hour to make weight, which he did, but the fighter did hide his staph infection from commission officials.
Despite the fact that the fighter clearly showed signs of a staph infection at UFC 216, the fighter admits the opportunity was too big for him to pass up.
“I tried my best to hide it,” Lee said. “You know, it’s a big event, a lot has been happening with the UFC, these last couple events and I wasn’t going to let nobody down. I worked my whole life for this, it was like a culmination of things. But I’m not going to let this stop me.”
Even though he recently challenged for the interim lightweight title, the fighter has stated a move to welterweight may be in his future.
