Off Guard: Keith Lee eager to fight, says training with Firas Zahabi made a huge impact

Keith Lee has been anxious to get a fight. In the meantime, he’s been making the most out of learning and growing in the gym.

Lee recently made the trip to Tristar in Montreal, along with older brother and lightweight contender Kevin Lee, to get some training in with legendary trainer Firas Zahabi.

And Lee says that training in Montreal had the same impact on him as it did on his brother Kevin, who scored a first-round knockout over formerly undefeated Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244, in a “Performance of the Night”-winning effort.

“Coming from Firas’ camp, I honestly think that it made a huge impact in me, and him,” Lee told MMA Junkie. “You could see it with him, but when I get the opportunity, I will show it.”

“Firas is a genius, he had so many different game plans and so many different ways of thinking, that I’ve never seen before, and for a young guy, I’m only 23, I have a lot of experience in this game and I’ve never seen anybody that thinks like him, or that can process information how he does and you can see the difference that it made just in one fight with Kevin. I think I’m going to do the rest of my camps out there.”

To say Lee (4-3 MMA) has struggled to get a fight is an understatement. He hasn’t competed since his unanimous decision win over Chris Johnson at Final Fight Championship 38 in June, and is hoping to get the opportunity to show the work he’s put in before the end of the year.

“I actually just talked to my manager this morning, and we were supposed to fight Nov. 20, and the guy pulled out again,” Lee said. “So this is maybe like 12 contracts I’ve went through, Tapology don’t even tell you half the story. I’ve went through 12 contracts and 14 like verbal contracts, not even including the ones we already signed and nobody’s fighting.”

“Am I working for no reason? But at this point, it’s like I just got to stay dedicated,” Lee added. “I got to stay in my own head just trying to stay as motivated as I can, because like I said, it’s so many fights I could have had this year. I’ve only had one, so hopefully we get one before the end of this year, but I just stay prayed up, and I know God has a reason for me.”