Kevin Lee: I’m going to whoop Edson Barboza worse than Khabib did

UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee is riding on a confidence high ahead of his upcoming fight against number-four ranked Edson Barboza at UFC Atlantic City. He is already foreseeing a dominant victory for himself, then after which, a fight against the current champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“I want that Khabib fight. I’ve been calling for it for a long time,” Lee said in a recent media scrum (transcript via MMAjunkie). “I feel like I’m going to get a better version of Edson Barboza that fought Khabib a couple months ago. I’m going to whoop this boy even worse then Khabib did, and then from there we can make a fight happen.”

Like many others particularly in the 155-pound division, Lee was an interested spectator when Khabib fought Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 two weeks ago. Based on what he saw, “The Motown Phenom” feels he can stand a chance against “The Eagle.”

“He was trying the same takedown over and over again,” Lee said of Khabib’s UFC 223 performance. “The man don’t have a lot of variety in his game. He’s the same as who beat (Rafael) dos Anjos a few years ago. He’s that exact same fighter. I think once you stop evolving in this game then guys like me are going to catch up to you.”

“Once I get my hands on him that’s really going to show,” he continued. “There was a little bit of frustration watching that fight because I wanted to be the one to expose those holes and I want to be the one to give him that one on his record. But as soon as that fight’s over I got back on what I got to do and that’s to go out there and whooping on Edson.”

UFC Atlantic City will take place this Saturday, April 21^st, at the Boardwalk Hall. It will be co-headlined by a featherweight rematch between Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson.