New Motivations for Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee has battled through adversity inside and outside the cage.

“The Motown Phenom” now finds himself in the Professional Fighters League lightweight semifinals, as he will collide with Gadzhi Rabadanov in the PFL 2025 World Tournament 6 main event on Friday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. A 19-bout veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Lee draws no motivation from outside sources, choosing instead to limit influences to only his closest confidantes. The 32-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan, native likes what he sees from the PFL.

“It’s been great,” Lee told Sherdog.com. “It’s been professional, which I really appreciate. You can tell everything is a fine-tuned machine. I’ve been feeling pretty good, and I’m excited to go out there and put on a show.”

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, June 20 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

Having most recently competed at welterweight, Lee credited getting healthy and going through the recovery process with his decision to return to 155 pounds in order to finish what he started.

“Once I was free of my injuries and I was able to bounce back from that, I actually recovered better than I thought I did,” he said. “When you go through these major surgeries, there is a time where you wonder if you can move like you used to. Once I saw I can move like I used to, I made the decision to move back down. I’m able to keep up my workload. I’m able to keep up the capacity to cut this weight. That made it an easy decision.

“It wasn’t to chase anybody, reclaim a lightweight title or get back to a world championship fight,” Lee added. “It was more about where I can perform the best. When I really break my career down [and] I look at the fights [where] I didn’t show up my best, it was at 170 pounds. This is a hard sport. Weight cutting is the hardest part, but I said if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it the right way.”

Focused on the task at hand and nothing else, Lee claims his motivations are completely different from when he first started his professional career.

“I’m not chasing what I used to chase when I was 22, 23, 24 years old,” he said. “I’ve got a son now. I’ve got a daughter on the way. I’m a father. This sport has made me a better person and I’m able to see that, and it’s going to continue to make me a better person, better man, better father. My son is going to be my legacy. I don’t care what these other people who barely know me think about me. It’s about what I can show him that you’re capable of even when you get broken down. I’ve been broken in every way. Physically, mentally, financially, I’ve been broken, but you can still build your way back up. I’m going to show that I’m still here.”

Having been on the hunt for Khabib Nurmagomedov and members of his team for 10 years, Lee sees the bout with Rabadanov as something of a full-circle moment for him. There is no one else he would rather prove himself against.

“I think that team does some good stuff, but they’re not unbeatable,” Lee said. “They’re men—they bleed—and as soon as he feels my power, as soon as he feels my presence, my hunger, I think he’ll start to wilt. They’re really good at being bullies, but I’ve never been bullied in my life, not once.”