After being released by the UFC recently, Kevin lee has quickly found a new home with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC promotion.
Lee has reportedly signed a multi-fight deal and will have his first fight for the company on March 11th against an as yet unannounced opponent at 165lbs.
The 29-year-old Lee was somewhat surprisingly let go by the UFC a month ago, not long after he was hit with a six-month ban for using adderall after his decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez in August.
It had certainly been a troubled for years for the former interim title challenger as he’s lost five of his last seven fights in the UFC – a far cry from the 9-2 run that he delivered earlier in his time with the promotion.
Lee was still expected to attract interest from many of the sport’s other leading promotions, but it seems that Khabib’s ambitious plans for his Eagle FC company and perhaps his ability to bank-roll his move has convinced him to go there.
The retired champion had recently revealed that he was planning to start hosting events in the U.S. from early next year.
“If you want to become big in MMA, you have to be in USA,” Nurmagomedov had told ESPN. “For fighters, for promotion, you have to be in U.S. If you’re not in U.S., you can never become No. 1 or best. It’s almost impossible.”
With that in mind, fighters with some level of star power will be crucial to help make shows like these a success and so it’ll be interesting to see if Kevin Lee is just the first of several notable names to make the leap.
