Kevin Lee Hopes To Sign With PFL In Eagle FC's Absence: "I'm Basically A Free Agent Right Now"

Kevin Lee is aiming to sign with another promotion as Russian promotion Eagle FC hasn’t been hosting events due to the war in Ukraine.

Lee, a former UFC lightweight contender and welterweight prospect, recently did an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto regarding his fighting future:

“There’s so much going on in the world (that) they’re not able to throw fights on. But before we even made the contract, this is why I said they gave me such a great contract in the first place, technically I’m signed with them, but I can go to different promotions too.

“You know, I could go (and) I can shop around, I’m basically a free agent right now. But I have that backup of having that contract. But they gave me such a good contract because I can move around, I can bounce around, and that’s what we’re looking to do right now. Some of these things are so unpredictable, right? Who would predict that the world would be in the place that it’s in from last year?

“So now that it’s in this space, they gave me enough freedom and flexibility that you wouldn’t get with other contracts.”

Lee continued: “Especially at my age now, I’ve got a few more years left of me really pursuing this thing that I need to give it my full and undivided attention.”

Okamoto then asked Lee if going back to the UFC is a possibility:

“That’s (idea has) been floated out there a few times, and I have thought about it, but I’m not putting no energy towards it to be honest with you. I feel like there’s so many opportunities in this sport and there’s a big opportunity now with PFL. You know they just signed Jake Paul. They’re making a lot of waves outside of the fighting realm, you know, outside of the bubble the UFC has created.

“There’s a lot of opportunity outside of it and I’m one of the most experienced guys. You can’t look at anybody who’s unsigned from the UFC that has my record, has fought the people that I’ve fought, and has my age and my upside to me either. So I would almost be hurting my leverage if I was just to straight go back with the UFC right now.

“So it’s something that I’m kind of interested (in), but it would have to be the right offer, it’d have to be the right fight, it’d have to be something other than just to say I’m a UFC fighter. I’ve been there and done that. That doesn’t do that much for me. A million dollars sounds a whole lot better.”

After stating that he’d like to fight Jake Paul in PFL’s superfight division, Lee also said he’d be interested in regular season match ups at 170 lbs, which could be very interesting to see. One could think he’s a better lightweight than welterweight, as he’s gone 0-2 thus far at 170 lbs. However, he’s also missed weight four times at 155 lbs throughout his 26-fight (19-7) career.

His lone fight in Eagle FC, which went down in March of last year, was contested at 165 lbs. But, should he sign with PFL, regular season match ups happen too often for him to consistently make the 156 lb lightweight limit.