Former UFC interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee is now set to begin his second stint with the promotion.
In February, Lee (19-7 MMA, 11-7 UFC) agreed to return to the UFC after just one fight outside of the promotion, where he defeated UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez at Eagle FC 46. At the time of the announcement of Lee’s return, no opponent was announced, although his first bout was expected to take place in Spring 2023.
Now, “The Motown Phenom” has a date and an opponent.
On July 1, at a UFC Fight Night event in the UFC Apex, Lee will face Rinat Fakhretdinov in a welterweight bout. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with multiple sources following an initial report from MMA Underground’s John Morgan. The event will be headlined by a middleweight bout between Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov.
It will be the first bout of 2023 for Fakhretdinov (21-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who made his debut with the promotion last year. He fought twice, and defeated Andreas Michailidis and Bryan Battle by unanimous decision.
Lee’s initial exit from the UFC came in 2021 following an 18-bout run, which included filling six headlining slots. During his hottest run, he racked up five-straight wins to get a shot at the interim lightweight title against Tony Furguson at UFC 216.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night event on July 1 includes:
- Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov
- Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
- Melissa Gatto vs. Ariane Lipski
- Khusein Askhabov vs. Joanderson Brito
- Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Brunno Ferreira
- Luana Carolina vs. Ivana Petrovic
- Grant Dawson vs. Damir Ismagulov
- Vinc Pichel vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
