Kevin Lee recently signed with the PFL, but his conflict with the GFL promotion isn`t over from his perspective.
The former interim UFC title challenger was slated to be a significant part of GFL`s major launch this year. The new league had announced its first events for May 24 and May 25, planning to feature a roster of notable MMA fighters including Tony Ferguson, Anthony Pettis, Holly Holm, Urijah Faber, Benson Henderson, Paige VanZant, Sage Northcutt, and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, among others.
Although Lee was not scheduled to compete on those initial dates, he was announced as a GFL roster member in December. Six months later, he has transitioned to the PFL and is preparing to face Gadzhi Rabadanov at PFL 5 on June 20.
Speaking on SiriusXM, Lee claimed that GFL exploited fighters by not delivering on financial promises, stating that he and his team are prepared to take legal action.
“These last maybe 12 months or so we were in pretty heavy talks with GFL,” Lee said. “They were supposed to be the new startup promotion. They were supposed to be the next big thing, and I got behind them pretty good. The talks were great, but there wasn’t no action behind it.”
“I can’t speak too too much because on the situation, because now we’re going through legal and I’ll be suing them for some defamation, plus some extortion. I think that they used guys like me and used our name in order to get out there and be a major face of the MMA promotion business and nothing ever came from it.”
GFL founder Darren Owen stated that the event cancellations were caused by a primary investor failing to meet a funding commitment, and he still intends to launch the promotion in the future. However, another fighter who signed with GFL, veteran Alan Belcher, publicly called the league a “scam.”
Lee now finds himself on more stable ground as he gets ready to compete against Rabadanov, who currently holds an impressive 11-fight winning streak and has not lost since 2020. Lee is stepping in as a replacement for the injured Jay Jay Wilson. If he is successful against the 2024 PFL lightweight tournament champion, he could potentially advance directly to the finals with this single victory.
When asked if he sees the upcoming fight as an opportunity to make a strong statement, Lee responded:
“That’s exactly what it is and that’s all I’m focused on. I’m not focused on nothing else but that. Even the last six, seven months, that’s all I’ve been focused on is getting back up there and competing against a top lightweight. And this guy is that.”
“Some people think that the UFC is the be-all, end-all and those are the best fighters, but this guy’s a very, very top competitor. So once I go out there, and I beat him on June 20, I’m going to show that I’m still one of the best lightweights in the world. I feel a lot of people have written me off. A lot of people either forget or they just write me off. They think – I don’t know what they think, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I see people doubting me, I hope they continue to doubt me, I hope they continue to write me off, to not think about it, and I’m going to show them in a big way on June 20 when I go out there and stomp a lightweight that’s been proving himself again and again. Once I stop him in the way that I can, I’m going to show that I’m still one of the top lightweights, just like I was a few years ago.”
