MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer: AJ McKee Responds to Alexander Volkanovski; Kevin Lee Reveals He’s Making Twice as Much in Eagle FC Than UFC

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

On episode 26 of The Fighter vs. The Writer, Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee joins the show to discuss his recently announced rematch against Patricio Pitbull and how that fight came together after he initially wanted to move on to new competition. McKee will also address his current standing with Bellator MMA, he’ll respond to UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski and explain a run in with Nate Diaz and his team at the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley rematch. Also this week, Eagle FC 46 headliner Kevin Lee joins the show ahead of his main event against UFC legend Diego Sanchez. Lee talks about his exit from the UFC and if there’s any ill will towards his former promotion as well as revealing how Eagle FC is actually paying him twice as much as his last contract with the UFC. All this and much more on the latest edition of The Fighter vs. The Writer. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Subscribe: Spotify Read More: MMA Fighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Welcome back to the Fighter versus the Rider. I'm your host, as always. I am Damon Martin. And this week we have a bit of a rare treat because we rarely feature two guests on the show in one particular episode. But with Eagle FC taking place this Friday night in Miami

and an interview I did with the Bellator featherweight champion, A.J. McKee, about a week ago, it was just too good not to put them both on the same podcast. We're going to kick things off with the Bellator featherweight champion of the world. He has just recently announced his next fight, taking on Patricio Pitbull in a rematch, and I was interested to talk to him about how that all came together after I know he wanted Patricio Pitbull in a rematch of lightweight with that title on the line. Of course, we all know Patricio Pitbull gave up that title. So we're going to talk to AJ about that,

about his current status with Bellator, his plans for the future, responding to UFC champion Alexander Volcanowski, as well as his recent run-in with the Diaz, Clefeyas. at a boxing event not too long ago. So stay tuned for all of that right now. And make sure, of course, stay tuned for later in the show. We'll have Kevin Leon. But for now, let's talk to the Bellator Fetweight Champion of the World, A.J. McKee. A.J. McKee.

Damon Martin, M.A., fighting back here with the Belator Fetweight Champion of the world. And many would argue the best featherweight in the entire sport of mixed martial arts. I welcome back today, the great A.J. McKee. AJ, how are you? Another day in paradise, man. Enjoying it. Enjoying it. How about yourself?

I'm fantastic, man. Thank you, as always, for taking the time. Of course, we've chatted a lot over the last year since you won the belt. But, of course, the announcement was just made. Your next fight is booked in April, and you're running it back with Patricio Pitbull. Let me start there. How did this whole thing come about? I don't know.

Honestly, I thought I was going to get to fight Borix or someone new. You know, me being the mercenary and so forth, I like to, it's, it's, I like to kick out. and take name. So the rematch with Pitbull, it's not overly exciting for myself, but at the end of the day, I don't know. When I fight people, my intent is to make them never want to fight me again. So the fact that Patricio wants to fight me again, this next fight, I'm going to go in there with a little bit of a different mindset.

So, yeah, when we get done with this fight, I'm going to make sure in his mind that there's no doubt and just no doubt that he doesn't want to fight me again. So I'm looking forward to it, man. You know, he thought that first round was early finish or stoppage, whatever. I mean, that was our first exchange. So for me, I don't, I think he's just trying to hype himself up a little bit to get himself motivated to get in there, go train, and actually feel out a full round and see what happens. but I'm looking forward to going in there and doing the same thing, you know,

put the icing on the cake and solidify my name as the best $145 ever in the world. Yeah, let me backtrack because we talked, you know, pretty soon after your title fight when you won the title last year, and you told me at that point, you know, you weren't sure featherweight was going to be your future. You know, lightweight was kind of where you were thinking about going. You know, of course, that's always been an idea to become a two-division champion. It seemed like the perfect matchup.

you and pit bull run it back lightweight title on the line then it ends up he ends up giving up the title which was like so out of left field i did not see that coming uh i don't know like were you disappointed that this is the way it played out i mean you're you're still getting pit bull but like i know the idea was to get him and and get a second title definitely it's just it's it's it's like uh it's like walking down the path you know there's bumps and bruises along the uh along the path um for me him being a champ champ, him holding on to that belt, the entire tournament. I think it was a little slime ball move,

if you ask me personally, because he knows my goals. He knows the accolades and the things that I look forward to achieving within my career and my life. Being champ champ is won for sure. So him doing it first, and then me going in there knocking him out, finish him, choking him out.

And the first, I was expecting to run it back for the 155. pound title. Just because, you know, I'm 27 years, about to be 27 years old. Weight cuts aren't getting easier. They're definitely getting a bit harder. I just, I'd love to move up, you know. I can be faster, stronger, bigger. I think I'll have more of, just more more more play time in there at 155 pounds. So I don't know. It was a little disappointing for him to release the belt, you know. That's why I wasn't looking forward to fighting him for the 145 pound title. It just didn't really make sense.

Him being a champ champ. If you want your rematch, okay, let's get your rematch to 155. But it's also not smart for him to let me go put on an extra 10 pounds and come in there as a supersized freaking transformer machine, in other words or something, you know? So smart move on his path, just a little hiccup on my path. And, you know, I still got my goals. I still got my mindset on. on my vision and I'm looking forward to getting back on it, you know.

This is just, like I said, he's a pawn in this game with the chest. And, you know, if you get that pawn to the other side of the other side of the table, you get a piece back. But I'm getting this pawn off the table. Yeah. Did you have to change your mentality at all when this fight officially got offered? And the reason I say that is because when we spoke after the title fight, and I totally agree with you, you beat him in under two minutes.

That's as about a dominant as a win as you can get. The motivation to get back up for a pit bull rematch was, let's go to 155, let's get a second title. That was kind of like the excitement. Like really fighting him again didn't make a whole lot of sense on paper, but a second title and then making, you know, moving up to Lightway made sense. Did you have to change your mentality a little bit to kind of get up for this one? Just because, listen, we all know pit bull's a dangerous guy. There's no doubt about that. He's a great fighter.

But, you know, you did it under two minutes. It's almost like, what more are you getting out of the rematch? You know what I mean? I don't know. I think there's a lot of doubters. I've always had doubters in my career and in my ear. So clearly he's a doubter. I don't know if Bellator is a doubter. I think Bellator loves me as a champ. I'm pretty sure they do. I think a lot of people, you know, I don't know. The motivation for myself was the fact that he released the belt. So it's like he's trying to, I don't know if he's trying to get under my skin, but. That was all the motivation that I needed. You know, at this point, I want to make it a family affair. Pitbull still has that belt, whether it's Patricio or Patrici. So for me, I'd like to make it a family affair, ass whooping at this point,

just because, yeah, man, the Pitbull brothers have property, AJ Merchantry McKee once again. So I'm looking forward to grabbing both those titles, man. Whoever's in my way, you know, you're going to have a force to be reckoned with. I'm coming to take, take everything. I'm on a belt hunting spree, dude. I really don't care what belt, any belt, wear a belt. If it's a belt, I want it, you know, Louis, Belator, anything.

You know, I like belts. So I'm on that belt hunting spree right now. But I would say the motivation for this fight was pretty easy, you know. After becoming champ, I definitely felt a little less motivated. I'm like, all right, well, who's next? What's next? You know what I mean? So I enjoyed a little bit of time off.

And then I got to that hungry point. like, all right, screw this, dude. I need a fight. What's up? What's going on? And then so I got on Instagram a little bit, you know, talking here and there. Borix has been one of his title shot. The dude that just beat Sanchez, I believe he's number three.

And then Patricio, those are about only three fights I could possibly think of. I've been telling Borix he could get it whenever he wants it, you know what I mean? So I think that that'll be one for the future. but the motivation for me was like, oh, he thinks this was a fluke, you know, he thinks he has something to come in here. So I don't know, this fight is going to be, it's going to be a little more nitty-gritty and I think a little bit dirtier. You know, I might be bringing on some elbows, some knees.

It's a different arsenal, more bodily damaging strikes and stuff, you know, nothing to, I don't know, that last fight was a very technical fight. but it wasn't, it wasn't like a brute battle, you know? It wasn't like, oh, AJ's trying to hurt this dude, you know. It was just go in there win and do your jobs. This fight, I want to make sure he never wants to fight me again. You look at any of my opponents in their records, I've never, I never want my opponents to fight me again, you know,

because that means that I just, I feel like I left the opening, you know what I mean? It's a fight. You're fighting for your life, in a sense. your family, your goals, you know, everything you have comes down to that moment within that cage. So for me, I'm ready to get them out of there again. We didn't finish round one, so let's start up round two. Yeah. There's two schools of thought when it comes to rematches, or in this case, automatic rematches.

There's one side, like I remember when Chris Wyden knocked out Anderson Silva, and even before the fight started, he's like, give him to me again. Because everyone's going to say it's a fluke. Everyone's going to say if I beat Anderson, it's going to be a fluke. Give him to me against so I can prove it's not a fluke. Then there's the other side, which is you beat him so dominantly, how can you top your own performance? You basically knocked him out and submit him in two minutes. It's kind of like a combo.

You got like the perfect ending there. How do you feel about that? Because like you said, you want to get him out of there and you want to make it to this guy never wants to fight you against. Somehow there's some doubt in his mind that there was an early stoppage, whatever the case may be. But on the flip side, people are going to say, well, how can you do it better?

You beat them in two minutes. You knocked him out and choked him out in under two minutes. For me, I, so in every fight, win or lose, there's always a lesson to be learned. And that's kind of something my dad's geared me on. He's like, in a win, there's always something to win to, like, even if it's an eight-second win. Like, when I beat Georgie, there was a big lesson in that. You know, there's always a lesson to be learned. And yeah, with this fight, um,

Not quite sure, dude. Honestly, I'm just, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm ready to go, you know. It was, it was two finishes in the first, the first round. So for, for me, I would say keeping that in mind, we didn't really get to fill each other out, you know, so he doesn't really know what to expect that much. That was our first exchange. Legit, our first exchange of punching and kicking, and it rocked him, you know. He bit on the faint. I was going to throw a left. He was going to throw a right hand. I, I didn't. I didn't like the spacing, so I backed out, gave him a little distance, circled over, and I saw the head kick, so I set up the head kick, and that was all she wrote. But that was literally the first read of our fight. So for me, you know, nothing's really changed. He doesn't know what to expect. I kind of feel I know what to expect in him. Either he's going to come at me crazy or he's going to try to do the same thing. I don't think he's going to play the range this time and keep his range. I think this time he's going to come at me, and that's when he's going to run into something nitty and gritty. Yeah.

You know, you mentioned before the future for you at Lightweight, and you mentioned a couple of guys out there. Of course, Adam Borch and, you know, Mads Brunel, they got a fight coming up. Everyone's talked about that being the number one contender fight. I think Bellator actually said it's a number one contender fight. But you said your time at Featherweight, there is a clock. You know, there is a ticking time clock where Featherwood is just not viable for you. I don't want to discount those guys. and I don't want to, like, ruin their dreams in this interview.

But, you know, is there a good chance if you beat, you know, everything goes well, you beat Patricia again? You talk about a family ass-whip an affair, you know, going up to 155. There would be something satisfying about taking the title away from his brother, too. Like, is there a chance this is your last fight of featherweight? Possibly. Possibly. I'm getting older.

Weight cuts getting harder. Obviously, it's not, like, unbearable. I just, man, I think people, like, fail to realize. been in the sport five years consecutively back to back to back, putting on three, four fights a year up until the tournament, you know, so for me, cutting weight's been something I've done my entire life from high school, wrestling, to college, to even junior juco state and JC, and you know what I mean? So wrestling was, weight cutting's been my entire life. I think my skill set is good enough to the point to where going up to 155s being faster, stronger,

I wouldn't have a problem. On top of, yeah, I just, man, I'm getting bigger, dude. I'm starting to walk around close to 180. I could touch 180 now. So obviously, I don't want to be touching 180, but, you know, if I'm in the gym, like, I don't lift weights. The most all lift is 45 pounds on each side of a bar. So I don't really lift weights.

If I were to, like, really get in the gym and lift a bit, I think I can make exponential growth at 155 and really set just new. I don't know. Also, I've had 18 fights at 145 pounds. Like, who's left in the division? You know what I mean? So, I mean, Borix would be that one or Bernal.

But after that, realistically, there's nothing left in the division for me. So, yeah, 55s is definitely, It's definitely the move. I've been scoping that out for a few years. And, yeah, we'll see where things lie. Maybe go over to Showtime, get a little boxing in, and get some big names over there as well. I love it.

Yeah, I love to match him with Patricke. I'm not going to lie. I mean, listen, there's something special. It's a rare thing we can have brothers in a sport. Even rare that you could get a chance to take the title from one, take the title from the other. As cool as it would have been to beat Patricio twice in a row to become a two-division champion, but there is something kind of cool about the chance to maybe do it from a

taken from his brother, right? Yeah, maybe we'll just put three behind there. You know what I mean? Same, same fight to me. You mentioned Showtime there, and I know when I saw you, when I met you, actually in person for the first time, was that the Jake Paul, Tyron Woodley, fighting Cleveland. You know, you were doing some commentary and stuff like that, and I know coming out of your last fight, we talked about this, and I talked to Stephen Espinoza about you

before that Jake Paul fight, and I said, you listen, AJ McKee is, to me, the face of Bellator now. He is the biggest star in that organization. You know, how important is A.J. McKee to the future of Bellator. And, of course, he's, you know, he loves you and, you know, you're a huge important asset. What is your relationship like with Bellator right now in terms of your contract in terms of where you're at in your career? Because I know you do have a lot of opportunities. You talked about Showtime, maybe doing some boxing, things like that.

But of course, that question's always going to come up. What about AJ going to the UFC? So where are you at in your relationship with Bellator right now? Relationships good, you know. It's always been a family here at Bellator. They've always taken care of me. It's been great business, you know what I mean? They've worked side by side with my father and building me into the superstar that I'm becoming.

And I think this is just the beginning, you know, first world title, first, first, I don't know, we're just getting started, man. So I love Bellator. It's a home. I can work. I can work with them. the endorsement-wise, there's big things and big opportunities that you can't do in other organizations, PFL, UFC, One-F-C, you know, I can't go get a Snickers deal, Cadillac deal, a Porsche deal, undefeated. Like, there's certain deals that I just, I don't think are, they're,

they're not possible outside of other, outside of Bellator. Me having the platform in the relationship with Bellator, I can, I can set up things and be able to kind of like I've been saying is be able to go box with Espinosa on Showtime and kind of balance it out with Bellator as well. And that's that's just having the great relationship between those two companies and then myself being in the middle and being able to have a mutual ground in relation there as well. So yeah, man, I love it here. It's awesome. I'm looking forward to just getting back to fighting those three, four fights a year, though, man. I, I, I, I genuinely love the fight.

You know, obviously the money is a key. It's a very big factor in the life. I live in California. So, you know, that million dollars is like that. You know, you go, that's a down payment on the house. So for me, man, I just, I genuinely love the fight. You know, it's not about the money. Obviously, it is about the money.

But at the end of the day, I just love the fight. And, you know, contracts, I got, I got three. left at the moment. We'll see where things go. I don't know. Like I said, I think Bellator may have thought it was maybe a quick finish or a fluke or I don't know. So for me, like I told them, you know, when after I fought Cardwell, I wanted to show them what I was worth. You know, I wanted to finish out the million dollar tournament and put that million dollar check above my name so that every check after that is nothing under a million. And, yeah, I guess I'm just not done showing myself yet.

So I'm going to go out there and put the icing on the cake one last time and see where things go from there. Yeah, you mentioned three fights left on the deal and the opportunity to do other things is huge. We've seen it recently with Francis Ngano and the UFC. Maybe you've seen just a little bit of like the drama that's going on there. Francis really wants the chance to, you know, box. it's an opportunity to potentially box Tyson Fury.

I told, I joked with Curtis. That's not happening with Uncle Dana. I'm sorry. And that's what I told, I was like, listen, I don't know whether you want to say he's got a chance of winning or not. You pay me $30 million. I'll get knocked out by Tyson Fury tomorrow. Like, I'll lose horrifically, but I'll go in there for $30 million to get paid. But does that, I mean, that opportunity, and it's not like asking to sit here and take shots to the UFC,

but like the fact that you could even have that mention, like, hey, I want to do a boxing match, Showtime's a partner. Steven Espinoza said he would love to do things like outside of just fighting with you. You can't do that other places. Agreed. I've spoke with Espenosa personally myself, you know.

She's kind of putting fillers out there. Hey, what's up, Espinoza? When can I get on a card, you know? Clearly they like what they see. That's why they've had me commentate previous couple events. So with that, you know, Espenosa asked me, he's like, who would you fight?

I don't fucking care I'll fight anybody, bro. Who you want? Who you want? I think the name that I gave him, I gave him like four or five names. It was like, what? I'm cool with Danny Garcia.

So I'm like, that'd be a cool match. You know what I mean? He's a power hitter and he's a dog. Bro, brother's coming to fight. You know what I mean? So that would be a really big fight. Earl Spence,

that'd be another big fight, you know. I don't care. My ultimate sparring match or move, because Floyd don't fight no more, but I've been calling Floyd out. It's not a fight. I think me being the best at my sport, him being the best at his sport, it would be phenomenal for me to be able to go in there and just move around with him and experience moving with the best of the best.

You know, I could really gauge myself, see where I'm at, and I feel like see potentially where I have, whether or not I have a big, big future in the boxing community, which I honestly and strongly believe that I do. a few months of just strictly training boxing, and I think I can make some very big growth within those months. But yeah, man, boxing is fun. I don't have to worry about getting elbowed, kick. If I get rocked, I can take a knee and take a little second.

You know what I mean? So it's definitely a different world, a different realm. Three-minute periods. It's different conditioning you've got to get used to. But, man, I'm all about learning new things, evolving and leveling up. So I think that's one sport hand-to-hand combat-wise that'll really, I'll be able to implement into my fight world and just pretty much cross-promote and bring both worlds together. You know, boxing was really the pinnacle of all, I wouldn't say all sports, but kind of, man. Boxing's been around for so, so many years, you know what I mean?

It's the closest thing to the Gladiator days that we had until mixed martial arts came around. And now, you know, MMA. It's like, it's Roman gladiators without the weapons. And I think that's what people thrive on and like the most. So I think bringing over a little bit of boxing attention and getting those guys involved with mixed martial arts is key. I don't think any boxes are going to come do with MMA. But, I mean, hey, it's cool to be able to go transition

and share that moment with them in their realm and their world. And, you know, at the end of the day, this is entertainment. so put on some good shows, man. You know, I love the way boxers get to walk out with all their rap artists and their whole entourage, you know, that's where I'm waiting for mixed martial arts to become a real sport like that so I can begin to do things like that.

Like, I love to have Snoop, O.T., 50 Cent, you know, like just all these OG guys whiz, like anybody I'm in cahoots with that I kind of, that's kind of just watched me since the beginning, you know. I think it'd be dope to just share those moments. with them, you know? They know what it's like to be backstage for their events, but they don't know what it's like to be backstage for our events. So like, I have an OT Genesis in the back one time, and like it's just a completely different vibe, the warm up versus his warm up for a performance and so forth. So for me, it's just being able to share that moment with those guys

and bring them into my realm and vice versa, you know, so the boxing world, that's where I'm looking forward to getting into and being able to put on a real entertainment show. I love it. I love it. Now, this question I'm about to ask AJ is really difficult to answer because we always know things change in the future. What happens today may not impact tomorrow or it may change everything forever tomorrow. But right here where we sit right now, February 2020, you seem happy in terms of where you're at in your career with Bellator with Showtime, the opportunities they're affording you.

Now, maybe that'll change six months down the road because I know we're all guilty and I'm guilty. I've asked you this a million times, you know, going to the UFC and fighting the guys over there, all those kind of things. But if you're getting paid well and you have these kind of opportunities and you get a chance to do boxing and maybe you make it a huge, maybe you make a huge impact of boxing and that becomes your focus, I don't know. But if you never did anything else besides Bellator, boxing, things like that, would you be satisfied?

Do you feel like you don't need the UFC to feel like you made a career out of yourself? Do you know what I mean? No, I definitely don't. But I feel like it's proving a point, you know? I love to prove points. You tell me I can't do something, I'm going to do it, just to prove you wrong. And then I'm going to come back and be like, hey, told you so. You know, like, that's just like, I used to troll fans.

Oh, you're going to get your ass woman. I'd save their comments, you know, screenshot a picture, and then go back after I went to fight and be like, hey, so what happened? Like, I thought I was going to get my ass me. You know, like, it's just fun for me. But at the end of the day, one day I have to own a UFC title, definitely, hands down, you know, just to prove that point, you know. Like I said, I'm on a belt hunting spree. It could be one FC, UFC, UFC, PFL.

I would love to own one belt in every organization. But in all honesty, I'd love to just unify the belts in it. Whoever feels like they're the baddest man, you know, come step up to the plate. And that's the way it should be done. And that's something that I learned from the boxing world, you know. once you reach that plateau of where you're at, yeah, man, you got to bring other people in and see what the move is. And I don't know, man, UFC, with what I would like to do, I know the goals and the things that I would like to do, it can't happen in the UFC. So I'm trying to set things up and build the relationships now so that once I get to the platform of where I'm,

I'm comfortable at, you know what I mean? A couple hundred thousand followers, million followers. I can go to these companies and be like, hey, your guys is product fixed into my lifestyle. Well, it's a genuine relationship that I have with your product. And that's where you kind of build the chemistry and the relationship. So undefeated, I don't think it's going to be going to UFC Snickers isn't going to UF.S. I don't know.

Could be a possibility. But as far as in this present moment, I don't see. see it happening. But yeah, definitely, man. A big key piece for me as well is that I think people tend to forget that the organizations make the fighters, or the fighters make the organization, not the organizations make the fighters. So it's our skill sets that, you know, as athletes that have gotten UFC the representation that they have. I feel like my skill set has gotten not only myself, but Belatorre the recognition that we deserve as a company, me as a company, me as as an individual.

And yeah, I'm looking forward to test it. My skills against anyone that claims they're the best, because at the end of the day, I know I'm the best. Yeah, it's funny because we've had this argument. I mean, I'm back in the day with like, you know, when I covered UFC in pride and everyone's like, oh, if you're not in pride, you're not the best. You're not this, you're not the best.

Those pride days were beast. Yeah, and I know, and I know you see it. And I have, listen, I have nothing but the utmost respect for a guy like Alexander Volcanowski. He's a monster. Again, I've talked to him, incredibly nice guy. an incredible fighter, but when he says things like, you know, AJ hasn't fought the same level of competition, you know, those kind of things. I don't know Jitsu.

What the fuck this you're talking about? Hold on. This man mentioned my name? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Volcanowski. Talk to Uncle Dana, A, sap, player. Bring it over to showtime, you know?

Let McKee do his mercenary thing, man. The audacity. This man, level of competition. Bro, my four-year-old brother has better wrestling. in jujitsu than you. What the fuck? Get this guy, man. Man.

You know how to stop the double leg? Well, that's what I'm talking about because how many times, like, we've heard guys in certain organizations say things like that, and then we see Eddie Alvarez comes over, becomes a champion. Michael Chandler comes over, and he's one of the top guys in the world. We've seen when strike forces around, we saw Luke Rockwell comes over and becomes champion. Daniel Kormia is like this perception that just because you're not in the O.C.

You're not good. is so utterly ridiculous. See, this is where I feel like my mindset of the fighters making the organization is different from other fighters. These fighters think that the organization is what's making the fighter.

And you can tell in his mindset of, oh, AJ's never fought top level competition. Bro, a fight is a fight. Have you ever been in a street fight? It's a fight. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter the level of competition. You can get caught at any point.

point any moment. But for me, how many losses does Volcanowski have? How many losses does this person have? How many, there's no one that is undefeated like myself with a finish rate, like myself, with a mixed martial arts record, like myself. 13 finishes, six subs, five knockouts. Bro, look at the stats. Ten finishes in the first round. Bro, the day Volcanowski can come to me with his stats looking even halfway looking like that, then bro can say something to me. Until then, I'm a big brother, him like pit bull. I'm going to put my shades on and look at him, so he doesn't even know if I'm looking at him, but I'm going to still be looking straight at him.

You know what I mean? Just giving him that look, like, you have no idea what you're talking yourself into. And like, straight up, he can try to hype himself up, but he's protected by the UFC. And until he's not protected by the UFC, I don't want to hear anything by anybody. I'm not protected. I'm an open book. If somebody feels that they're the best, like I said, unify these belts.

Bring it on. All smoke. Where there's smoke, there will be fire. And you got to get past the fire to get to the smoke. And I'm not fired and I'm ready to bring you. I love it. I love it.

Real quick, before I get you out of AJ, I got to ask, speaking of fire, I saw your dad pop up recently in a video. In Jake Paul's Dana White disc track, what did you think of that? First of, let me ask, what did you think in the disc track?

I know I'm setting you up here because I'm asking you what you think of a Dana White disc track. But when I saw your dad and I know your dad, I was like, oh, I was like, what's Antonio doing in here? I plead the fifth. It's comical, man. It's fucking entertainment to me, dude. Nobody challenges Dana. So for him to challenge Dana like that, for me, I find it entertaining. It was a little uncomfortable for.

me to have my father in that video, in that. But, I mean, it's no hard feelings at the end of the day, man, it's business. This is, this is entertainment. And kids doing good shit, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, whether you hate him or you like him, he's entertaining. And people are talking about him. It's the only fucking Dana doesn't mention anyone outside the UFC. But he mentions Jake Paul.

Jake's doing something right. You know what I mean? So for me, it's entertainment, man. I enjoyed it. I thought it was funny. The lyrics, though, are, man, those aren't that funny. Those aren't that funny. But yeah, man, it's good.

It's entertaining, you know? At the end of the day, I don't know if Jake has intense on stepping in that cage. If he does, he knows where I'm at and he better come train with us. Outside of that, it's entertaining, man. My dad, you know my dad. He's mellowed out so much over the years. And I think that's his way of just like, I don't know. I don't know what his mind-centered intent is on it.

It's funny. It was laughing stock. It was comical. I enjoyed it. I remember we were talking before the pit bull fight, and I said something joking about him fighting Captain Eric. And boy, he jumped right in that interview. He heard me.

I was like, your dad will still fight somebody. I know he will. Bro. This man is 53 years old. still trying to fight. When I tell you, our blood is different. That's what I'm talking.

Bro. Volcanowski. Holloway's my dream fight. Shout out, Holloway. Respect that, man. O.G. of all, O.G.'s, 145-pound king right there. But Volcanoski,

all these other guys, zombie, like, ah, what's up? Like, I'm trying, man. And it's like, everybody in the MMA world

knows how my father used to be. He was very loud, very, he didn't bite his tongue, and he's going to say exactly what he feels. I'm a little more mellow. Obviously, the blood's within me. I have those crazy tendencies, but I've learned to control myself, keep myself mild managed, and man, you pick and choose your

battles, you know what I mean? So I just, man, I'm ready to fight, bro. These people, everybody says they're ready to fight, but when it comes down to actually getting in there and pulling strings to make certain things happen, I don't think people like to. to deal with the hassle of trying to put things together where me, I'm, if I set my mind on something, I'm the type of person, oh, it needs to be done next week. I'm going to do it now, just to get it done. So I have all of this week to do what I need until next week. I'm just to get it done type person, you know. I think it goes in the show with my fighting skills as well. I see an opportunity and I capitalize on it every time. Yeah. And you mentioned, you know,

the Jake Paul thing. You know, it's funny because everyone, like, Everyone wants to rag on him for whatever he's doing his career. I like Jake. I've talked to Jake several times. It's like the island boys. But it's like, but here's the thing with Jake. Like, whether you like him or don't like it, it's kind of funny. Every time he kind of takes aim at Dana, the funny thing is, like the fighters I talk to,

they're like, yeah, Jake, he's loud, he's doing this, but he's got a point. He's got a point. You know what I mean? Like there is a, and he's got a big audience. Like, you cannot fault the guy for at least shining a spotlight on real problems in our sport. Agreed, you know, and these were things that my dad, I think personally from my dad stepping into the video, it was the things he was speaking upon in the video. My dad's been talking about fighters unions and unifying belts and just more more things for the fighters, you know, and that's where I can say boxing is a full, full bred sport versus mixed martial arts.

I see it kind of more as entertainment, but it's becoming a sport to a different level. me having me being the second generation of fighters stepping into the sport and then obviously potentially having my little brother be the third generation of fighters coming up in the game by the time I step away and he steps in I would like it to be a full on sport you know um or at least gearing towards it you know what I mean um so for me I love what he's doing you know he's bringing a lot of attention to the sport um I guess some people would say it's bad attention, but I think it's good attention because of the flaws and the things that he's pointing out.

I'm very, I don't like to speak upon things too much within the fight world because I want to give it an opportunity to actually grow, you know? I want to give it an opportunity to see you over the next, you know. This is my 50 year being pro, so I got to come into the game, see the game, learn about a lot about the game. Also having my father by my side, he's broke down and kind of showed me, hey, this is what's going to happen. This is where this is going now.

This is where this is going. You're in a little dilemma here. You can kind of weigh out and wait and do this and that. So having him in my corner, you know, first generation knowledge is key. But the second generation knowledge, the things that I'm envisioning for myself and my goals, that's where I'm, I'm going to. getting eager, but I'm trying to stay patient, you know. There's many things I want to step in and really just full force, but like, look, this is what we're doing. I want to do it this way.

Boom, boom, boom. Pensions, retirement plans, da-da-da-da, this, you know, or like just all kind of things. So for me, in due time, you know, I feel like with a little bit more star power, a little bit more following the people behind me, just getting to know me personally for who I am, I think that'll be a big key to the MMA fans and showing them who I am, the possibilities, things that I want to do in this sport. And yeah, man, I think step one is unify those belts, so I can go out there and show the world who the mercenary really is. Yeah, I know you're a fighter first, but I always love the JZ quote.

You're not a businessman. You're a businessman. Hey, that's factual in MMA, for real, for real. Last thing, I want to, real quick, and I'm only bringing this up because I heard about this from the last Jake Paul, Tyron Woodley Card when you were out there. Do you have some kind of beef with the Diaz team? No, man, I wouldn't call it beef. I mean, Anthony Pretty Boy is not to be touched in my presence, period. Out of respect for me or whoever the hell you want to put respect on it for, he's not to be touched in my presence.

You know, I'm not too fond of Chris or Nate, you know what I mean? I don't like bullies. So y'all trying to walk around and bully Nate or Anthony, that's not going to fly with me. So every encounter we kind of have, it's been a little touchy, but I wouldn't call it a beef, because if it was a real beef, it would get handled, you know. He's got one fight left in his contract. Maybe I get him on Showtime and get him all over there. I like I said I love family of fair ass whoopings I know I know uh Chris is Nate's little pocket holder you know what I mean so uh hey maybe I'll beat him up and then beat Nate up after I don't really care I like I said I love the fight and at the end of the day we can't talk about it we both fighters we can settle like oh geez you know I mean um I had a previous issue with one of his boys and a couple years back and just OG style I sent Nate a text like yo what's good tell you boy I know he's UFC I'm I'm Bellator like

bro, we've been in the game since before that. Like, if we got an issue, let's go backyard style how we originated and get down, bro. Of course, no response. But some people just ain't cut from that cloth like that, you know what I mean? Versus my dad, we know that man's crazy as hell. So I know I got it in me, and that's why I keep it tamed a little bit. But, man, disrespect, you know, it only goes so far. and I now feel disrespected, and that's where it becomes a problem.

And that's why I asked Nate personally, I said, what's good, bro? We got an issue. And he just kind of laughs. And I'm like, that's not a no, but that's not a yes, but what's up? You know? So every time I see Nate, that's the question. What's good? We got an issue?

What's good? Like, is there a problem, bro? Like, so I don't think it's a real issue. And if it does come down to an issue, like I said, we can let these do to talk. Yeah, it's funny you say that. one if I left on this contract, talking about big fights, big paychecks. Nate Diaz and Bell is where. Bring that ass here, boy.

You know? Hey, bring that ass here, boy. And it's weird because, like, I grew up watching Nick and Nate, you know what I mean? Favorite fighters since I was a kid, dude, they've been in the game since, you know, when my dad was fighting, they were the kids in the game. Now I'm the kid in the game, and they're the older guys in the game. So, you know, I had an opportunity to meet Nick, and Nick walked over, introduced himself, you know, while Nate and Chris Avila over there doing their little little brother thing, you know,

you know how little brothers are. And so that's just the way I see it, you know. There's no real beef there. It's big brother, little brother, you know, and little brothers will always be little brothers until the big brother puts the little brother in check. But hopefully I get to be the big brother and put that dude in check, you know what I'm saying? Well, now you got your little brother coming up now too, right? So you're the big brother.

You got the little brother coming up under you. Bray, Mason, King, McKee. Mark my words. first world champ under 18. The day I can put a bet on it, the line opens up for him, his first pro fight, I'm putting 100 grand on it. Whoever posts the bid, the bid, I'm betting on it. Mason will be the first world champ undefeated under 18.

How old is he right now? He's four. Oh, my gosh. So we got a few years to wait, but. I give him about 12, about 12 years. 12 years he'll go pro. Talk about a generational thing to think about what your dad did in his career, what you're doing in your career.

And then think about, you know, like a decade from now, a little over a decade from now, you've got another McKee coming up. How crazy is that, like, the family you're building right now? That's what I'm saying. If it's not my time, it'll be his time. I, man, patience is key, you know. I'm not a patient person. But over the years, I've had to learn to be patient.

And I'm becoming more and more patient with more knowledge that I learn. You're able to sit back and assess. situations more when you're patient. So that's a big key, you know, planning for the future and planning for the worst. Obviously, you want to plan for the future first and always have a backup plan for the worst. Yeah, absolutely. Well, AJ, it is always a pleasure to catch up, man. You know, I really do appreciate the time. Enjoy the fights this weekend. Of course, best luck to your teammate fighting on the card this weekend. Glad you got your fight booked in April. You know, I always look forward to your fights, man. So I really appreciate taking the time, have a good training

camp and man can't wait for april yes sir thanks for having me appreciate it and uh speak to you soon i'm gonna get this dub finish out round one i love it i love it a j talk to you soon buddy all right all right all right stay good bro blessings a big thank you of course to a j mckee for coming on the show definitely appreciate that now let's move on to the man who will headline eagle fc 46 this friday night against ufc legend diego sanchez a lot has been made about kevin lee over these last few months as He exited the UFC, signed a new deal to join Eagle FC, and we're going to talk to him about his current status in the sport. Is there any ill will with the UFC after the way he exited the promotion

and what his expectations are now that he's actually working with, Kabib Narragamatov as his promoter instead of a potential opponent? So let's talk right now to the Motown phenom, Kevin Lee. Welcome back. It's Damon Martin, and today I am happy to be joined by one of my favorite fighters to speak to. We go back quite a few years, and he is about to headline his first event as part of Eagle FC, Eagle FC 46 on March 11th against the legend in his own right in Diego Sanchez. Always a pleasure to speak to the great Kevin Lee. Kevin, how are you?

Always a pleasure, man. Always, always, always. It's been many years, right? Absolutely, absolutely. So now are you chilling down in Florida right now? Yeah, I'm in Florida. I've been here for about six weeks now. I talked to Logan Storley before his recent fight.

And I asked him, you know, if you were down there. And he's like, oh, yeah, Kevin's been in here training with us, had a lot of compliments about you as a teammate. So how has it been working at Sanford? It's been cool. It's definitely a different training environment than what I'm used to. But that's just good. I feel like it's kind of elevating me. And sometimes it's kind of necessary to put yourself in an uncomfortable situations in order to really grow as a fighter and as a fighter.

person. So Sanford's been, it's been a good, uh, it's been a good mix for where I'm met in my career. Yeah. Now, I'm a big believer in, you know, you go where the training gets you, you know, where you go, where you need to go. So I know you've been in Montreal before. Of course, everyone knows you were out in Vegas for a while. This is not a knock on them in any way, shape, or form. But what was it about Sanford and getting down to Miami that you wanted to? Like, was it just like, what was the deciding factor to go there? It was mostly the life, to be honest with you. There's, you know, we, we as fighters, we still got that part of our lives that separated from this. So, you know, I feel like my time in

Vegas just kind of was coming to an end. And it had honestly been to an end even before this whole pandemic started. Ah, damn. You're all right. I got you. All right. All right. Um, yeah, my time in Vegas, just, just my regular life was kind of coming to an end. And I feel like I needed to restart on it. And Florida, uh, everything just kind of lined up to, to, to, send me in that direction. And, you know, obviously, it was training over at Extreme Couture. It was the MMA gym of the year last year. So it was hard for me to lead that environment.

But once I got Eric Nixig's blessing to come down here and start working with Hoof, it made more sense. I would have Canada was on the radar, but, you know, they've been crazy since all this COVID thing been going on. And it don't look like it's slowing down no time still. Yeah, I talked to Roy McClain. because Rory was down at Sanford, too, and he ended up down there a large part because he couldn't really train in Montreal because all the lockdown and restrictions and everything made it really hard for the train at home. So he moved down to Florida as well. So you're not alone in that. Yep, yep. He was definitely one of the people that kind of helped me with this decision too, you know. I kind of brought in a lot of different people who have made similar moves. Even Georgia's been spending a lot of time down here. So it's been a, you know, it's a process. It's been nice, though. Yeah, George, as in St. Pierre? Yeah, yep.

Was he down at Sanford? No, I don't think he was down at Sanford. I just think he's spending more time in my area. Gotcha, gotcha. You know, like I said, it's mostly just the life, you know, the life outside of fighting. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. How, you know, when I talk to guys like Eric Nixick, and I've talked to people who have trained with you, just like I talked about with Logan Storley, like they all rave about you as a great teammate and a great training partner,

always willing to help guys in the room doing the work. but how important was it for you when you decided to go to Sanford to not burn bridges leaving Vegas? Because you know how this goes. There's going to be a narrative. Like what was wrong with Vegas? What was wrong with Extreme Couture? Why did you have to leave? How important was that for you to not burn that bridge to where, you know, you could go back if you wanted to?

Yeah, that's extremely important. That's just usually how I like to conduct myself. I don't like to burn bridges, especially if there was no ill intention on either side, you know? and I feel like the people that I was really close to, like Nick Sick and Dewey Cooper. And, I mean, it's just I could go on and on about the teammates and everybody. They could see that it was with the best intentions in heart, you know?

It wasn't like, oh, no, y'all ain't doing it. Y'all ain't, y'all ain't this, y'all ain't that. There was never any of that. It was mostly just for me and the life that I'm on right now and what I need to move forward. Vegas had a lot of, it was a lot of traumatizing shit that I went through there, you know? So it was time for me to kind of lead that in the past and move on to the future. We all need a fresh start sometimes, right?

Yeah, yeah. And I've never been one to shy away from that. And honestly, I've always just grown every time I've done this, you know? Every time I step into a new room, I feel like I've grown. So that was this time. Yeah, absolutely. So, of course, as I mentioned it, Zob, you're going to headline Eagle, You know, your first event with Eagle FC.

Of course, we all reported you signed with them a couple months ago, you know, after leaving the UFC. And I know this is going to technically be your first experience fighting for them. But, you know, you did the press conference. You've talked to the matchmakers. You've talked to Habib. How has the process? How has it been working with Eagle FC thus far? Because, you know, you spent so much of your career in the UFC, and we all kind of know what the UFC does in terms of like PR and publicity and things like that.

So how has it been working with Eagle FC? It's been nice. It's been kind of like a little rejuvenation to my passion for the game. Like you just said, the UFC can kind of be a cookie cutter almost processed sometimes. You know, like there's things that you can do to stand out and stand above it. But even in that, you kind of see the, it's just process. And, you know, I've been through 10 main events with them. So by like the fourth or fifth one, you see, oh, okay, I see what I got to do again.

Okay, all right. Yeah. You know, there was like, obviously, do you have to see what they do is work, you know, and what they do is work like astronomically above it where anybody else could have expected. So it's like you can't tell them what they're doing is wrong, but for me as somebody on the inside, it's kind of nice to get that new creativity, kind of like somebody looking at it from a different angle. They aren't just stuck in the same old, same old.

So that's been kind of nice on that part of it. you know, as the fight's getting closer and closer, I'm starting to feel that same, like, jitteriness that I missed a little bit. I stopped caring about a lot of stuff on a day-to-day basis. I'm like, there's just fucking fight. Let's just do that. I forgot what this feeling was like. Yeah.

Is there any part, I saw your post on Instagram when you got the new poster, and you said, you know, I've headlined 10 events and this is the best poster. You know, we all kind of joke sometimes about the UFC post. It looks like, you know, they hired like a fifth grade class to put together a poster. I'm like, what do you guys got? Let's see who wins this contest. And I know posters, you know, it's a poster. It doesn't really affect the fight.

But do you feel like there's some part of you that, you know, like this is not, I mean, I guess I am kind of sliding the UFC for this. But like, you're being treated like a star. You're being treated like a guy that like they're like, you're one of the faces of the organization. Now we're going to put a lot of money and time behind you. And I understand the UFC's got 700 fighters. we get that. Not everyone can get the promotion, but even some of your main events,

it almost felt like, oh, Kevin Lee's fighting? Why is it the UFC like putting them out there? Why aren't they promoting him? Why aren't they putting them on more talk shows or whatever? You know what I mean?

Like it feels like Eagle FC is like they want to be in the Kevin Lee business. Yeah, yeah, which is nice. You know, I like to be where I'm wanting, you know? And I feel like that's for working with anybody.

You want to, you want to work with people who want to work with you. And it's not just, like, oh, what can I get out of you? What can I get out of you? You know, that's kind of what it, what it felt like with the UFC. And I do feel like some of me stepping up and kind of talking about the addiction problems I had since the surgeries and, you know, some real life shit kind of made them stiff arm you, stiff arm me even more and not pay attention to what the actual value that I do bring. So it's kind of nice to not have to worry about that. And, um,

working with people who really understand the fighting part of the game. That's one of the beauties about having an ex-fighter as a fight promoter. Like, you get it. You get what it is. So I feel like that's the route that we need to take as MMA as a whole. Yeah. Now, I'll be honest, Kevin, going back a little bit. You know, we reported, of course, when the UFC let you go.

And there's very few times in my career I can say, like, when I get a piece of news where I'm, like, legitimately shocked. Like, I got that news. I was like, are you kidding me? like this is so bizarre like it made no sense to me and even months later i still can't quite wrap my head around it which i can only imagine how you were so i don't want to just sit here and rehash things you've already said you know of course you've done the interview since then but i do want to ask like now here we sit you know days away from your first main event for eagle fc you got this new deal in place sounds like you're very happy but when you look back at your time into ufc i'm not going to ask you to rehash everything you've already said but is there any is there any ill will at all now looking back like now you've had time to process everything now you've had the time to think about everything, like no emotion, you're kind of moving on. But because like to me,

like I'm glad Eagle FC picked up when they, they hit me up like right after we reported that you got released and we put out the statement, we want Kevin Lee. We'd be interested in signing Kevin Lee. I was like, that's awesome. But even in my,

like today, I'm sitting there talking to you, you know, days away from your next main event. And I'm like, it still doesn't make sense to me. Yeah, yeah.

There still is a bit of kind of confusion to me a little bit about exactly what's going on. there's a lot of politics that go into the shit. So that part, you know, it's still some figuring out that needs to be done. But as far as ill will, there's zero. There's zero ill will on my end towards the UFC. I feel like if anything, it came at the right time.

It might not have been the time that I saw or would have wanted. But ultimately, I feel like it just came at the right time. You know, I got the attention of the entire world. by my time in there. And it's like, man, it's so much shit that I can do off of that, that there's no ill will. You know, they taught me a lot.

I had a lot of good experiences. I had 18 fights. Like, that's not something that they can ever take away from me. You know, when I'm walking to a restaurant or I walk into the mall or I walk anywhere, like I'm built different now, you know? Like, I move different. And I feel like people can kind of tell that.

You can kind of see it. I've had these experiences that you wouldn't get anywhere else. And a lot of other guys in the UFC wouldn't get half of the experience that I even got. So there's no ill will, you know, they still got a lot of guys that I've beat that are still in there doing good, and they're still promoting and doing great and all that. I wish everybody best of luck, but I'm here to be a world champion, and that's going to start next week. Yeah.

We're in a position now, and we've had it before. I'm not going to say it hasn't been there before, with promotions like Pride earlier, you know, years ago, and then, of course, Strike Force. But now we got Bellator, we got PFL, we got one championship, we got Eagle FC. There's more opportunity now to make real money, you know, outside the UFC. You don't have to be in the UFC to make a lot of money. We've seen that. I mean, there's a reason why, you know, Gagard Musassi is, you know, making money and happy as, you know, ever in Bellator.

Corey Anderson, another example, guys going to one championship, Demetri's Johnson going over there, Eddie Alvarez going over there. There's places you can fight, make money, and never be in the UFC. But in your head right now, considering the way the whole thing played out and everything, would you ever consider going back to the UFC one day if it came up?

Or do you think that, you know, you can make your mark outside of there and you never need to fight there again? I think both of those are a real possibility. I could definitely make my mark and be bigger than any fighter that the UFC has right now. In terms of the world, you know, we kind of, you know,

MMA is such a small community that everybody kind of knows each other and we give respect to people who do great in the sport. But I've seen a lot of people that are vets, that are UFC champions. And, you know, you take two steps outside the MMA world, nobody knows who they are. They don't even look twice at them, you know? And there's just a lot more to life than just that.

So I feel like I could never step foot in a UFC, octagon again is still be the biggest artist that they that they've made and be bigger than any of the other of the other mixed martial artists that they've made but at the same time I can see me going back especially for the for the right fight one thing you can't take away from the UFC is it definitely has some of the best competition in the world as far as like just competing going out there and competing against the best guys like the UFC does have a good job of grooming them and making guys that. So I can see me going back there for the right fight.

When you talk about a Charles Olivera fight after a couple of them, there will be a few fights. A Connor McGregor fight always, but there will be a few fights that I can see me going back for. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Like I said, I still, to this day, it's funny, you're working with Habib. You know I was one of the guys, you know, pound that drum for years.

I wanted you to fight Habib, and I wanted you to fight Islam because you're wrestling, your your your your your pedigree you know you are kind of like the toughest matchup for those guys that being said um i love that you have this opportunity with eagle fc and i love that eagle fc is out there and i love that habib has said you know we're going to make play for free agents we're going to you know we're going to push to get these guys and when you look at the roster they're already building with guys like yourself with diego uh you know Cody gibson ray borg you know the list goes on on rachad evans i mean all the list like is that exciting to be

part of something that's growing, but also already kind of big. Like, I'll be honest with you, Kevin, we covered the first Eagle FC show here in the, in the States, uh, with Rashad's comeback and, of course, all those fights. I mean, it was huge. People were all over that. People were going crazy for that car. Like, it's got to feel good to be kind of like on the ground floor of something that could be potentially very huge.

Yeah, exactly. And I feel like I'm going to grow along with the company too, you know, as, as my star power gets bigger, them as a company is going to get bigger. And, and MMA is, as a, a whole is going to get bigger. You know, I feel like all these years, we've just been kind of pushing for MMA and UFC to be mainstream. And now it's pretty much here.

It's mainstream. You know, we on ESPN. We're doing all these things. The other artists know who, what a UFC fighter even is. But now I think we still got some growing to do. And the next bit of growth is to push MMA as a whole. And Eagle FC is a great way to do that. So, yeah, like, yeah.

you said, I'm excited to grow along with it. I feel like the last fight was big. This one's going to be really big. I'm talking with some of the people on the inside, and they say the numbers are trending, like even bigger than the first fight. So my next four fights will all be here in Miami, and I just feel like it's going to get bigger and bigger and bigger.

So I'm kind of excited to grow along with that. This is an exciting time, and it's kind of re-invigorated me a little bit, you know? I feel like the, the chip on my shoulder got even bigger, and I got a lot to prove. Yeah. You know,

I'll be honest with you, Kevin. Like I, you know, we all kind of lean towards the UFC when it comes to the big cards because they are the biggest show in town. No one's going to dispute that. You know,

I think we all know that. But sometimes I feel like, and feel free to correct me if you disagree, but sometimes I feel like the UFC is able to keep maybe salaries lower and like expectations lower because the competition is so rich. Like when you look at the lightweight division of the UFC, you know,

It's a snake pit. It absolutely is. There's no doubt about that. But, you know, people say competition, you want to be the best world. You've got to be in the UFC. I disagree. But I also think that, you know,

it's a business. You're here to make money. You're here to make a living. It's prize fighting. I think people lose track of that sometimes. So when you're, when you look, when you get to deal with the ELFC, they're calling you and saying,

we want to offer you a contract. At that point, you know, you don't know exactly what you're going to be facing. I mean, you know, Diego came after you. You know, I mean, you don't know, you know, what kind of competition you're going to be getting, but you know the pays right. You know what I mean?

You know they're going to treat you right. You know they're putting an investment in you. How much do you balance that in your own head when you talk about business versus competition? Because I completely disagree with the notion that you have to be in the UFC to be the best in the world. I will agree they have the deepest competition. There's no doubt about that. But like I just, I'm a big believer in business, man.

You only have so many years in this sport. If one place is going to pay you a million dollars and the other place where the better competition is, they're going to pay you $250,000. I'm going to say sign for the million every single time. Yeah, for sure. Like you said, it's business at the end of the day. And the competition is always going to be there. Like you just said, the best fighters ain't necessarily in the UFC.

You know, I even see that working down here at Sanford. Like, there's a lot of, like, top level 170 and 155 pounders that you haven't heard of. That's not the UFC. There's guys in, I mean, this is a global sport. It's people in Russia and in Japan. and Australia and all these places where, you know, you can only hear about so many guys, you know, but there's so much competition out there.

And when you look at it from a competitor standpoint, I come from a wrestling background, you know. Nobody used to watch some wrestling matches, but we out there wrestling our ass off. You fight in your ass off. You're working harder than you've ever worked in your life, harder than any football or basketball player or anything. And you're doing it in front of nobody, you know,

you're out there wrestling and having all these great matches and you're just doing it just for the love of it and just for the experience and your own your own physical and mental well-being. And I feel like you can get that. You can get that anywhere. And as long as the competition is right, and like you said, somebody like Diego,

Diego's been around since 2005, since I even thought about fighting. If you don't respect what this man is done and what he's continued to bring to the game, game and he's done it year after year, at the year, at the year, at the year, at the year, I can't really ask for a better competitor than that. If I would have been in the UFC right now, they probably would have put me and Diego together, you know, that would have been the fight.

So the competition is always going to be there. We got to go with the best business, Ma'an, and I feel like that's where MMA is starting to be at, finally, finally. Because the more we make as fighters, the bigger the sport gets. You know, you talk about these young kids, and if I'm a 12-year-old athletic kid, am I going to go to football where I can make, you know, five, six million dollar contract, or am I going to go to UFC and make $50,000 a year

or $100,000 at best a year? I feel like the more that we get these Floyd-Mayweather-level paper views and the bigger payouts will get the sport even bigger. Yeah. Can I ask, before we move on to Diego's, Sanchez without asking for receipts. I'm not going to ask you to show me your paycheck. But Eagle FC signed you to a four-fight deal.

Can you give me some sense comparison in terms of like what you were making the UFC, better, worse, comparable? Again, I don't need you to give me numbers, but can you give me an idea? Like, how well is Eagle FC treating you? It's twice as good as what the UFC is treating me. Really? Yeah. Yeah.

So, yeah, it's, it's nice. It's nice. I cannot complain. And like I said, it's a lot of, it's the language of the contract, which is a lot better, too, which that holds a whole lot more value than the dollar value, you know. Some of these fights are going to live for eternity. Some of these fights will, will see better days in the long run, you know. So it's a language of the contract that is a whole lot better.

And me as a person, me as a brand, like I'm always going to beat me, you know, 10, 20, 30 years from now. So it's kind of nice to own some of those rights. Yeah, I know a lot of people like to do the, they say, you know, everything happens for a reason. I kind of teeter on like, I'm not a big believer in that. But at the same time, a year ago, you know, you're in the top 10 in the UFC if I said, hey, Kevin, you know, you could go to Eagle Occ and they're going to pay you twice as much

is what you're making right now. You probably would have said, ah, you know, come on now. Like, you know, that seems a little crazy. In a weird way, if you look at you,

if you want to look at the big picture, like, I'm not going to say you're happy the way things played out with the UFC, but in terms of the Kevin Lee business, did this all kind of play out better in a way? Like, not to say you wanted things

in the way they did, because I still don't like that. But you're getting paid twice as much. You're a headliner. They're putting to promote, all these kind of things we were talking about. Like, is there a weird, is there some party that says,

you know what, It's actually worked out better for me. Yeah, yeah. When I fall asleep at night, that's exactly how I think. I'm like, man, hard work kind of gets you somewhere, you know? Hard work and treating people right. It gets you somewhere. Even if it ain't exactly where you thought that you was going to be, it's like, fuck, you

look, you sit back at the end of the day and, you know, I do weird flexes, you know? Like, I haven't thought about buying anything for like four or five years now. You know, when I walk into the grocery store, I don't even look at the prices on. I barely even go on a grocery store anymore, you know? Like, there's just, there's food every day. There's stuff every day. Like, I don't, I don't have to have these stresses. And when I was 16, I would have killed for that, you know?

So, yeah, I sit back at the end of the day and I'm like, man, this shit working out kind of nice. This is kind of nice. I don't know how I got here. But shit, I'm going to continue on the path and keep working hard. the, you know, next is a gold belt. That's the only thing on my mind. So, yeah, that's, yeah, like you said, it's kind of nice. It's kind of nice.

Now, hold on. Now, talking about money, I'm looking behind you there. I'm seeing a lot of shoe boxes. Is that, is that, what's going on back there? What's going on back there? There's an issue. See, now, I'm a sneakerhead. I just, I live, I won't say how much.

I'm not going to disclose that, but I just went on stock X a pair of Jordan ones I wanted. dropped probably a lot more than I should have. So, you know, I understand that thirst, but I see those sneaker boxes behind you. So if you're done there at one place you're spending money, it's on sneakers, right? Yeah, yeah.

We got a lot of life, you know. I don't even, I don't even wear off, to be honest. But you got a lot of life. You have to love it. You got to enjoy some of this shit, right? Yeah. There's one of the stuff that I'm into. What's your favorite, what's your favorite Jordans?

You, Jordan 1, Jordan 2, what's your favorite Jordans? I'm a Jordan 1 guy. I like Jordan ones. The 13th. The 13th. The Hawkins, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think so.

Yeah. Or fives. I dig the fives too. I dig the fives. Yeah, I actually just saw a pair of Jordan threes the other day and I was like, ooh, those are kind of nice. So yeah, I'm an old school Jordan one guy, but there are some other.

I saw the ones that Eminem was wearing on the, at the Super Bowl. And I was like, ooh, those were kind of. I think those were Jordan fours. I was like, okay, well, now here's another one I like. So it never stops. You're right, though. the threes are growing on me the classics, you know, the classics are kind of nice.

I haven't always been a classic type of person. I always kind of like the eccentric shit, but the classics are slowly growing on me. Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Like I said, I just spent way too much money on a pair of Jordan won, so I totally understand the addiction. Kevin, let me ask you about Diego Sanchez

because, you know, you've said a lot leading into this fight about what a legend he is. We all know what a legend he is, everything he's done. And it's funny because when you look at this fight on paper, you say this is kind of like the young guy yourself, you know, who's still, you know, top 10 guy, top five guy in the world kind of talent. And Diego's kind of, we can't lie.

Diego's towards the end of his career. We all know that. But that also makes him dangerous, right? Because in a way, he's got nothing to lose. Like, no one's going to, no one's favoring him to win this fight. He's a massive underdog. You know, you're the big, you were the big signing for Eagle FC, all these kind of things. But Diego's still got that hunger, that fire.

And there's always a danger in fighting, you know, kind of like that wounded dog. You know what I mean? Yep, yep, yep. This is the most dangerous fight in my career. For sure, when they say it's all or nothing, like, it literally is. If I go out there and lay an egg against Diego, yeah, it's a very, very dangerous fight. So I'm treating it like that.

You know, I'm treating it like Diego is the world champion. That's truly what it is, you know. Some of these fights, it's me against me, you know. like I really still haven't met the man that could beat me yet, you know. I've lost some fights in there. Yeah, sure. But I think Charles Alivarro is the closest to the one that can match my skill level. And this is the type of fight that's really going to push me mentally and see where I'm at.

So I'm taking it a thousand percent, whether Diego was an 80-year-old man and they got to wheel them out in a wheelchair. Like, I'm still taking them a thousand percent. Yeah. And listen, we can't deny. I mean, all eyes are on you. You know what I mean? Like, you're the guy coming in. This is your weight class.

The one you've always wanted, 165 pounds. This is when we talked about, I can't remember how many interviews we've done where we talked about, you know, creating a 165 pound weight class. You got your now headlining. It seems like you're getting the respect you deserve. You're getting the paycheck you deserve. Now you've got to go and win, right? Like at the end of the day, that's what matters most.

The pay's nice. The contract's nice. That's nice. Still got a win. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so that's what's going to test my mentality.

And that's where I'm at right now. It's winning a fight. That's all I'm thinking about these days. And I'm just kind of, you know, that's kind of how these fight camps go. It's hurry up and wait. And now I'm just like, let's fucking do this shit. Like, let's get it over with. Let's do it.

The lights is bright, but I've always shined underneath them. And I can't wait. Can I ask real quick before I let you go? How is your, I mean, I know you're not going. You're basically a week out from the weight cut, but how is your body feeling? Because you've always said, you've told me numerous times, 165 is your ideal weight class, 170.

Of course you fought there, but you always said you were probably still a little bit more than, you know, 165 be perfect, 155 was a brutal cut. We all know that. How are you feeling knowing right now you're going to cut to 165? It's a bigger smile on my face to show these days. If this was a 55 cut, I'd be a whole lot more pissed off right now. I've gotten my nutrition right, you know, not just in the sense of, you know, being on an Atkins diet or some bullshit like that or just restrictive eating.

I've really been able to hone in on my nutrition. So I feel like my cardio has really been stepped up through me being able to fuel myself day in and day out. You know, these, it's harder training sessions for sure over here in Sanford. but since I'm eating right like my cardio has just been through the roof and that's been the biggest improvement that I've seen. Yeah, absolutely. It's kind of fun because that's again

the other reason why I love Eagle FC is that they're doing this. We're going to see this weight class everyone's talked about for years and you know and I know I'm sure you saw it you know I think it was actually me I asked Khabibib at the last press coverage I said you know the UFC has a lot of guys kind of

I won't say disgruntled but there seems to be we've seen guys leaving and you know there's going to be players for free agency. Khabib's like, hey, you don't want to be in the UFC, don't be somewhere else. Come over here. Eagle FC is a player as a guy who, you know, who made your decision to go to Eagle FC.

You got to be happy knowing Khabib's out there saying, hey, if you're a free agent, we want to talk to you because, again, the pay is great, but you want that competition as well. It's kind of like the matching thing. You want to even it out. Got to be excited about that, right? Yeah, and there's some dream matchups that I would love still out there. You know, I'm still a fan of the sport.

I still would love some good matches. You know, you talk about Dustin Poirier is talking about it. Nate Diaz is talking about it. There's a lot of people that are that are kind of about to start testing even more free agencies. So like, let's go ahead and make these fights happen and get people what they want. And then we can start our own promotions or however we go about it. Yeah, I don't want to turn this in like my last thing here. I don't want to turn this into like, hey, let's just slam the UFC.

But we have seen recently, you know, more guys are willing to challenge what's out there. Of course, I know you share the same manager. We all know with Francis and Gano. We know the background on that and kind of the history of that. But, you know, Francis is another guy who we've seen. He's now challenging it. He's challenging the status quo saying, hey, I'm not getting what I want. I'm going to potentially go somewhere else.

Of course, now you have this lucrative deal. You said twice as much money. You're going somewhere else. Again, I'm not going to deny the UFC's the biggest show in town. We all know that. But you've got to be happy to know that, hey, the options are out there. And people are starting to, I mean, you know, Jake Paul's waking some eyes out.

You know, people are starting to see that, like, you know, like there's other options out there, and I'm not going to sit here in lines that the UFC doesn't still do a great job of what they do. They absolutely do. But Nate Diaz, one fight left. Nate Diaz, Kevin Lee, sounds like a pretty big fight to me. Yeah, sounds like a huge one. Sounds like a good one.

I mean, there's so many big fights. You know, like you said, we can't take away too much from the UFC. They do a great job of, of, promoting, but it's, it kind of sucks being famous, but not being rich, you know, that's not really the goal. This is America. We value the dollar more than anything. So be rich first, then be famous.

When I'm giving kind of advice to young fighters on what they should do and where it should be and all this, I tell them, like, the UFC ain't top dog no more, you know, maybe in terms of promotion. but if you just want people to know who you are, then you can go and do a whole lot more shit than this. You know, if you're in it to provide from your family and do some other stuff, like there's a, there's some more options out there, especially the more we get into it and the bigger MMA is.

There's some more options out there. So, you know, yeah, Nate Diaz and Kevin Lee sounds great. Kevin Lee, Dustin, Corier sounds great. There's been a lot of fights that sound great. The biggest thing for me is I'm going to be a world champion at 165 pounds. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, will be the best man in the world for anybody who's willing to weigh in at 165 pounds. So no, regardless of who that's against, that's what it is. Yeah, it's so funny. You're, you're, I always forget you're such a veteran now.

I still call you a young guy because you're so young in your career, but now you're the veteran giving advice to young guys. And I always really, we first talked. I think you're like one or two fights like one fight in your UFC career. I have to get out of my head like, Kevin's like an 18 fight UFC veteran. Like it's just so weird to me. Like, like I just always think, he's like this young guy, but you've really transcended and become like a true veteran in the sport. And that's a, that's a testament to the hard work and everything you've done, Kevin. Like I said, man, it's amazing to see where you've gone. It's just so funny to me because I still always say, you're such a young guy.

And you are a young guy. I mean, you're actually a veteran now. Yeah, yeah, I'm getting up there. You know, I feel like I'm just starting to hit my prime a little bit. That's when that's when age meets the experience, you know, the body and the mind are finally starting to catch up. So I still feel very young, but I feel like I'm starting to hit my prime a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Kevin, I really appreciate the time.

Of course, best luck. I know the fight's almost around the corner. So best luck in the fight. You don't have to really travel for this one, which is nice right down there in Miami. I like to text you and talk to you about fight stuff, but I'm not going to lie, man. You might get some text on me with some sneaker news now. I'm not going to lie to you about that. I might be just text you about the newest Jordan's coming out.

word word word you got it bro you got it okay well i appreciate the time as always man i appreciate the best of luck next weekend i'm sure we'll chat again soon okay all right 100 all right david talk to you soon yes sir a big thank you again to kevin lee for joining us as well as bell at tetherweight champion a j mckee uh appreciate both of them coming on the show uh with uh kevin's fight of course coming up this friday night at Eagle FC. AJ McKee will be coming up with his fighting Patricia Pitbull in a matter of weeks now, I guess. So stay

tuned for that as well. We'll be back next week with another edition of the Fighter versus the Rider. We're going to bring back an old friend my regular podcast co-host from back in the day. The Immortal Matt Brown will be here next week, so make sure you tune in for that. Thanks to everybody, as always, for tuning in. Make sure you check us out on all of your

favorite podcast platform, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, all those different outlets, and of course over on MMAfighting.com. We'll see you guys next week for another edition of the Fighter versus the Rider. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you then. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.