Kevin Lee: UFC Rankings Don’t Really Mean S*it

Kevin Lee is currently ranked No. 7 in the UFC rankings, but he’ll take on No. 2-ranked Tony Ferguson in the main event of next weekend’s (Oct. 7, 2017) UFC 216 with an interim 155-pound title hanging in the balance.

Lee has won five straight fights, with four of those victories coming by way of stoppage, making quite a name for himself in the process. Given his recent success, Lee obviously feels as if he deserves to be ranked higher, but he also recently said that he doesn’t ‘give a f*ck about the rankings’:

“It don’t really matter,” Lee said during Thursday’s UFC 216 conference call. “Like, I don’t see even why other fighters are putting … them rankings, they don’t matter. Y’all make the rankings. I don’t give a f*ck about the rankings. The only thing everybody above me in this division got on me is some years, is some time. That’s it.”

He also explained why some fighters ranked above him don’t necessarily deserve to be:

“When you look at the rankings, they don’t mean nothing,” Lee said. “Some of these dudes that’s in the top 25, top 30, they’ll beat any of the guys in the top five. They got Nate Diaz, who’s got plenty of losses, in the top five. It don’t make sense. They got Justin Gaethje, who only got one (UFC) fight against … apparently beating Michael Johnson in this game is really something, because you got Khabib up there at No. 1, and you got Gaethje with one fight up above me.

“The rankings don’t really mean shit. You could say I’m No. 7. You could say whatever you want to say. I think I’m No. 1, and I’m just going to prove it on October 7th.”

At the end of the day, Lee has the opportunity to prove what he is saying. If he can come out on top next weekend, he’ll have a belt wrapped around his waist in addition to being one step closer to proving he’s the best lightweight in the world.