If UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee gets his way then his next fight will be a rematch against Tony Ferguson.
“That’s what they do in boxing – you ease your way back in,” Lee told MMA Junkie as he plots his comeback almost a year after being submitted by Charles Oliveira in his last Octagon outing. “But the way I’m feeling, I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m going to fight Tony Ferguson. I think that fight makes sense from all angles. I don’t see anybody else that’s out there for him to fight.
“It just makes sense and it puts us back where it should be. A fight with me and him is going to kind of show one of us has to win, one of us is going to have to leave. So that’s a fight that interests me this summer. We’ll see what he talking about on his end, but he’s No. 1 in my book.”
Lee and Ferguson already fought back in 2017 at a time when both were both on a lengthy winning streak, and on that occasion it was Ferguson who emerged victorious via submission.
That was the start of a slump in form for Lee, being the first of four losses in six fights, though he has also picked up notable stoppage wins due to strikes against Edson Barboza and Gregor Gillespie during that period too.
Following the fight against Lee, Ferguson went on to win another two fights against Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone, but has since seen his 12-fight unbeaten run ended by losses to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira.
Nevertheless, Ferguson still remains ranked No.5 in the division, while Lee is back at No.12, so it’s not neccessarily a match-up that seems like a no-brainer, but ‘The Motown Phenom’ believes it would be a good fight as they both men still have a lot to offer and will be eager to get back to winning ways next time out.
“I think he’s going to dig deep for the next one, for sure. That’s why I want to get him next. I think he’s probably got one more good run in him, one more good push in him, so I want to be the one to gets him at his best again and shut that down.
“He’s like 36, 37 years old, but then you see a Lebron James who’s out there still ballin’ – 36 is different these days. It’s not the same. So I think he might have one good push in him left.
“That’s why that fight interests me. If I really thought he was just on the down and he was just never going to come back, then I would overlook him. But I think he’s got one more in him. I’d be that one, for sure.”
