Kevin Lee is currently unranked in the UFC Lightweight Division, his UFC Fight Night 106 opponent in Francisco Trinaldo is ranked #11. The unranked lightweight in Lee believes that the UFC doesn’t want Trinaldo ranked in the division’s top 5.
“I think I’m doing (the UFC) a favor,” Lee told MMA Junkie Radio. “The kid’s old. He’s getting up there, so they’re like, ‘This mother(expletive) keeps winning fights.’ He’s on a crazy win streak. And it’s like, ‘Damn, he keeps winning fights. We need somebody to go out there and steal his thunder, steal his shine and take that ranking away from him.’ Because I don’t think they want him in that top 5. Clearly I’m much more marketable. But I think in order to make the fight happen, they had to make it down in Brazil, because you’ve got to give and take something. If he’s going to take on a young lion like me, at least it’s got to be in his hometown.”
The Detroit native has already won seven of nine fights under the UFC banner. Lee is well-known for his trash talking leading up to the fight, something he thinks a lot of fighters wish they could pull off.
“But I think a lot of fighters think this stuff too,” Lee said. “They just don’t say anything. They probably just, you know, either keep it on the backburner, or are too afraid to say it or just don’t want to say it. I don’t give a (expletive) I’ve told it to (UFC President Dana White) before.”
UFC Fight Night 106 takes place on Saturday, March 11 from the Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil with Kelvin Gastelum and Vitor Belfort headlining, the main card airs live on Fox Sports 1.
