Few were surprised to hear that UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway, always a fighter’s fighter, was willing to step up on short notice to take a fight against a heavier, dangerous opponent in Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223. 

However, the UFC’s choice to fill in its lightweight title fight with a featherweight does seem to have a lot of fans forgetting about the incredible depth of the 155-pound division. 

One such name that can’t be overlooked is Kevin Lee, who fights Edson Barboza as the headliner at UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City, NJ, later this month. Even though he was not in the running for the Nurmagomedov short-notice sweepstakes, Lee sees a future matchup with the Dagestani star as inevitable and favorable. In a recent interview with the Top Turtle MMA Podcast on FloCombat, Lee broke down what he likes about a fight with Nurmagomedov. 

“I’ve been calling Khabib out for a long while," Lee said. “It’s for good reason. We just have a different style—even a different style of wrestling.”

Lee pointed to his athleticism as a factor that would allow him to do more in the cage than Nurmagomedov, and that’s what makes the matchup so enticing for "The Motown Phenom."

“I feel like my style is so different and it matches up well against him," Lee said. “He’s not the same level of athlete that I am.”

And the translation of that athleticism manifests itself in the takedown. While many people are crazy about Nurmagomedov's style and ferocity of takedowns, Lee isn’t impressed.

“If you look at some of his fights, his top control is great, but the takedowns themselves aren’t at the same level [as mine],” Lee said of Nurmagomedov's technique and power. 

In addition to feeling Nurmagomedov’s takedowns are overrated, Lee also sees Khabib's past fights as a hindrance when and if they fight. The current lightweight title challenger has yet to face significant adversity in his fights, which Lee sees as Nurmagomedov’s greatest weakness. 

“I think with these wrestler-fighters, especially with someone like Khabib with this imaginary zero that he’s been holding onto forever, he feels like he’s invincible and he feels like he’s the man," Lee said. "He hasn’t really been put into many bad positions in a fight.

“Once he’s been put into that bad position… the man is gonna break.”

Not only does he see the path to victory through both a mental and physical advantage, but Lee sees a difference in depth of skill as well.

“I’m just more well rounded,” he said. “You got guys like Khabib, who is good at what he does in that one style, but there’s a way to beat every man, and I’m gonna beat the man from bell to bell if I got to.”

So while many people applaud the skills of Nurmagomedov, Lee sees him as just another person on his list.

“I feel like I can fight any style and Khabib is no different," Lee said.