Kevin Lee Says Khabib Nurmagomedov Doesn’t Want To Fight Him

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Kevin Lee (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) said that the reason he’s fighting Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 for the interim lightweight belt and not Khabib Nurmagomedov is because the latter doesn’t want to fight him. Here are highlights:

On why he’s not fighting Khabib: “We can cut the (expletive) – (Nurmagomedov’s) just being a (expletive) about it. He just doesn’t want to fight. Bottom line, he doesn’t want to fight. He wants to hold on to that imaginary zero that he’s got.”

On his advantage over Khabib: “I’m bigger than Khabib. You stand me next to him – I’m 186 pounds right now, and I’m going to make the weight. I usually start at 188, 189.”

On Tony Ferguson: “Everybody knows – if you ask any fighter in this division, Tony is the toughest fight in this division. Hands down. To me, he’s the real champ. You can say McGregor’s the champ, because he’s that on paper. But the man only has one fight. Tony’s got 11, 12? He’s already got double-digit fights in the (UFC’s) lightweight division. I’m going to (expletive) Tony Ferguson up. There’s a reason why none of these dudes put my name in their mouth.”