Kevin Lee‘s return to the UFC after a two-year hiatus ended in a brutal defeat to Rinat Fakhretdinov, who extended his winning streak to 20 following a knockdown and guillotine choke.
In the run-up to Saturday’s UFC event, Kevin Lee’s return to the ring was among the most eagerly anticipated storylines. However, things did not go as planned for Lee. It was an unpleasing comeback, to say the least.
The focal point of the UFC Vegas 76 preliminary bout was Lee, the one-time interim title challenger. After a two-year hiatus from promotional appearances, Lee came face-to-face with Rinat Fakhretdinov, an opponent riding a wave of 19 consecutive victories. But instead of marking his return with a triumphant win, Lee was squashed within just 55 seconds with a powerful right-hand knockdown and a devastating guillotine choke from Fakhretdinov. With this victory, Fakhretdinov extended his impressive winning streak to 20.
The UFC community expressed mixed feelings; while they were awestruck by Fakhretdinov’s profound performance, they also empathized with Lee for his unfortunate return. Tweets from fellow fighters shed light on this period of intense emotion within the UFC. Al Iaquinta, using a chirpy tone, referred to a “New Kevin Lee” walking to the cage. Comprising the majority sentiment, Chris Curtis shared his disappointment while acknowledging Rinat’s flawless execution, tweeting: “Gutted for Kevin. Hats off to Rinat. That was perfect, brother”. Similarly, Belal Muhammad expressed his empathy saying, “Man, I feel for Kevin; that was a super tough debut”, while remarking on Fakhretdinov’s prowess as an opponent. Terrance McKinney posted succinctly: “That man is dangerous.” Meanwhile, other fighters hinted at new possibilities for future fights. For instance, Belal Muhammad suggested, “He should step in to fight Jack next week.”