Al Iaquinta Says Kevin Lee ‘Will Never Be There Mentally’
Over the weekend (Sat. December 15, 2018) Al Iaquinta picked up a big win over Kevin Lee in the main event of UFC on FOX 31.
Iaquinta recently had a five-fight win streak ended by Khabib Nurmagomedov. He was defeated via unanimous decision, but held his own better than one could hope to do against Khabib. “Ragin'” bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Lee in Milwaukee. He joined “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” yesterday (Mon. December 17, 2018) to discuss his win.
The New Yorker admitted that, physically, Lee is one of the best fighters in the world. However, mentally, he doesn’t think “The Motown Phenom” will ever be on his level (via MMA News):
“Physically, there’s no reason Kevin Lee isn’t the best in the world,” Iaquinta said. “But I knew going in that mentality wise, he’s not there with me. I don’t think he ever will be. I think there’s a huge part of the lightweight roster that’s just never going to catch up to me on that side of things.
“So when he said “same old Al,” it was such a weak attempt at getting in my head. And I really just caught the ball and threw it right back in his face.”
Lee was once looked at as someone who could eventually win the UFC lightweight championship. That’s still certainly a possibility, but his defeat to Iaquinta certainly sets him back. After having a five-fight win streak ended against Tony Ferguson for an interim lightweight title, he rebounded with a dominant TKO win over Edson Barboza in April.
Now, with his loss to Iaquinta, Lee has been defeated in two of his last four fights. It will be interesting to see what’s next for Lee when he makes his return to the Octagon.
