kevin lee

Kevin Lee wants Conor McGregor fight but knows it won’t happen

Kevin Lee is coming off of a massive knockout win over Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244.

Now, he wants to fight Conor McGregor on Jan. 18 as he is still without an opponent. But, he doesn’t believe the UFC will give him the fight.

“They’re still trying to find an opponent for Conor McGregor on Jan. 18,” Lee said to MMA Fighting. “I know they’re talking about “Cowboy” [Donald Cerrone], but there’s no contract signed there. If he’s a little bit like me, if he’s a competitor at his heart, then he’s going to want to take on the tough wrestler. He should if he wants to get back to Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and really wants to get back into title contention. That fight would make sense.

“It’s not going to happen. I’ll be real. It’s not going to happen. They’re not going to let me within 10 feet of that man, but these are the things that I kind of see.”

Kevin Lee says many fans would want to see that fight, but he says the Irishman is avoiding him and Justin Gaethje.

“I think a lot of real fans will see that and know that,” Lee explained. “I don’t think he’s willing to do what I’ll do. I don’t think he’s willing to take on the guy who’s on the up and up. You’ve got your back up against the wall, and he’s trying to make a name off of you. I think they’re going to avoid those types of fights.

“I think they’ll avoid me, they’ll avoid [Justin] Gaethje, (and) they’re going to avoid some of these other guys who can really give him a challenge.”

In the end, Lee revealed he is on the final fight of his contract and would take the McGregor fight on the same deal. He also says it is a much bigger fight than Cerrone vs. McGregor.

“I’ve got one fight left on my contract,” he said. “If that’s the fight, I’ll take it at the money I’m at right now, to be honest with you. I think it would be way bigger than him versus ‘Cowboy.’ But that ain’t for me to say. If they call me, I’m all ears.”

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Cole Shelton
Cole Shelton covers MMA for BJPenn.com, MMANews, and MyMMANews.com while also being the lead MMA odds writer for Sports Betting Dime