UFC lightweight Kevin Lee is hot right now.

The 24-year-old fighter just snapped Francisco Trinaldo's seven-fight winning streak, put ink to paper for his first UFC main event, and smiled his proud grin all the while.  Next up for Lee is a marquee showdown with former The Ultimate Fighter winner and No. 7-ranked lightweight Michael Chiesa at UFC Fight Night 112 in Oklahoma City. That fight will produce a clear-cut, no-bullshit--number-one or otherwise--title contender at 155 pounds.

But it's everything that's already happened--and everything that will happen--that makes Lee's journey so damn special.

"This will be my 11th UFC fight--at 24 [years old]," Lee told FloCombat. "I don't think many guys have been able to match that."

Lee's record inside the UFC Octagon certainly impresses. He's 8-2 with four finishes. Currently, he's won four in a row, three via TKO or submission. One loss came via decision in his UFC debut against Al Iaquinta at UFC 169 and the other at UFC 194 versus Leonardo Santos via quick TKO. Lee would love to run each of those fights back. He'd be favored to win them, too.

Yet, at 24, it feels like something bigger is coming. Lee doesn't boast a lifetime of martial arts experience in his back pocket, so if it looks like he's figuring out this MMA thing step by step, fight by fight, it's because he is. He's just a kid from Joy and Evergreen who got out, maximized his talents, and got to work learning one of the most complex sports on earth.

And he's done pretty well at it.


Mar 11, 2017; Fortazela, Brazil, USA; Kevin Lee (blue gloves) fights Francisco Tinaldo (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Centro de Formacao Olimpica de Fortaleza. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

"Everybody wants to compare themselves to everybody else, but I've taken a step back and just looked at it and said, 'I'm about to make a million dollars this year at 24. How many people can really say that?'" Lee said. "It may not be Mayweather money. It may not be $150 million. But shit, coming from grits and mashed potatoes, $1 million sounds g*ddamn good to me. To be honest, I could give a damn about a title. I want to fight in front of my hometown, and I want that million dollars."

Where the hometown fight is concerned, Lee might be on the cusp of something there, too. A Detroit native, Lee breathed the harsh inner-city streets for years, tasting problems--real problems like homelessness and excessive violence and murder--before forging his escape with his fists, shins, and chokes.

Now transplanted to Las Vegas, Lee is ready to head home. This time, he's going to set the example rather than attempt to break away from it.

"It's a big year for me," Lee said. "UFC Detroit is definitely happening later on this year. It hasn't been announced yet, but I'm definitely going to make sure it gets done. It's going to be crazy. It's about g*ddamn time. We'll fight Chiesa and then we'll fight Khabib [Nurmagomedov] in Detroit. That's the goal. That's the plan."

"Nurmagomedov" is a name never far from Lee's lips. He called out the undefeated Dagestani powerhouse after his most recent victory over Trinaldo, and he's not letting up now. While Lee received Chiesa, not Nurmagomedov, the young scrapper won't let his target escape that easily.

"Khabib probably ain't going to do it [UFC Detroit]," Lee said. "He'll probably try to weasel his way out of this one, too, but I've given him plenty of notice. This is like an eight-month notice. If this guy can't show up and fight in eight or nine months, then he should go ahead and retire."

Currently, though, Lee must wipe out a top-10 fighter and a man who has tapped out two high-level black belts in consecutive outings. Chiesa is a monster on the mats, and his grinding, pressure-heavy style has earned him an impressive 14-2 record. Chiesa's own trajectory is eerily similar to Lee's, but something's gotta give in Oklahoma City.

Lee is prepared to ensure his hand is pointed toward the heavens when the winner is announced.


Nov 19, 2016; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Kevin Lee (red gloves) fights Magomed Mustafaev (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at SSE Arena. Mandatory Credit: Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

"People know he's [Chiesa is] one of the best in the world," Lee said. "The kid is ranked [seventh] for a reason. After him, it's only top-five guys and number-one contenders as far as I'm concerned. It's a big fight for me, a great fight, one that I'm very confident in.

"My skills, I think, match up very well with his. He has a knack for winning fights he's not supposed to win. So it's my job to go out there and make sure he ain't doing none of that. And especially with it being in Oklahoma, I'm going to put a stamp on him and really get him up out of there."

Skill for skill, Lee recognizes Chiesa's capabilities, but he thinks the scale tips heavily in his favor when all facets of the MMA game are considered.

"I think once you line up all our skills, you can say: the grappling, it might go back and forth, but overall, I'm faster, I'm stronger, I have more endurance," Lee said. "I tend to finish guys later on in the round. I get better as the fight goes on. So I think the fourth and fifth rounds will benefit me more than him. Overall, I just think I blow him out of the water in every other category."

To help him gain that advantage on the floor and beyond, Lee litters his training camps with studs from all corners of the combat sports world. He works his Brazilian jiu-jitsu with multi-time world champion Robert Drysdale, and he crafts his paws into lethal weapons at Mayweather's gym. He's even worked with outstanding peers in the past, including current UFC welterweight contender Demian Maia who, like Lee, is known for his remarkable back control.

While Lee takes pride in his own ability to finish fights from the back, he admits Maia is on a different planet where that particular skill is concerned.

"He's [Maia is] a fu*king monster," Lee said. "It would have been much better had we had a boxing day or something, if he came into Mayweather's and we could've done some boxing. *laughs* But yeah, we ended up rolling.

"It's just not fun. It's not good. It's not healthy for you. It's going to hurt. The same goes for Robert Drysdale. Having rolled with both, they're both on the same level. It really kind of shows you there's always that next level to everything as far as MMA. Because we have to blend everything together, it's very hard to get it really excellent in one area. You have Floyd Mayweather in boxing. When you box with Floyd, you really feel that next level. Or when you grapple with somebody like Robert Drysdale...It gives me a feeling of that next level."

Now, Lee looks to showcase his latest form inside the eight-walled battle chamber June 25. Should he defeat Chiesa and fulfill his destiny of fighting in Detroit later in 2017, gold can't be far away.
For a kid who didn't start wrestling until he was 14 and who didn't know what the UFC was until 2009, that proposition seems ridiculous.

But here's Lee, standing at the highest point in his career with plenty of terrain left until he crests the summit.

This is where the climb gets fun.