Jake Matthews Says He Picked Kevin Lee For His TUF 23 Finale Opponent

Jake Matthews spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Kevin Lee at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale. Some excerpts are below:

On choosing Lee as a replacement for Stevie Ray after Ray had to drop out: “We had a group of names that came to us – the first one that stood out was Kevin, I think of about maybe eight guys that we had to choose from for a replacement. My eyes were just drawn to Kevin. I’d definitely heard his name before. I knew he was a young, explosive fighter. What excited me was, I think it’s a good time for this fight. I think you’ve got that sort of pecking order for the up-and-comers, and I think me and Kevin, we’re right there at the top of the up-and-comers lists. So I think this will sort of determine who gets to go and start fighting the more experienced, more well-known guys.”

On studying Lee: “I couldn’t really remember seeing any of (Lee’s) fights previously. We hopped online, watched some of the fights, and also it worked out. We were already really deep in our fight camp for Stevie Ray. And even though Ray is a southpaw and Lee is orthodox, Lee does switch very often. They’re both wrestlers, they’re both shorter than me, both very strong. So it seemed (I’d) keep a similar gameplan. Just tweak a few little things, and it wouldn’t throw me off too much. So that was sort of my mindset with that pick.”

On International Fight Week: “I guess I’m going to see everyone walking around the hotel, and probably going to go and get photos with them. Even though I’m in the UFC and they’re sort of like my peers now, I’m still a big fanboy. When I see those big names, I’m still going to be starstruck.”