SteemSports Presenter: @brandonk
SteemSports Editor: @theprophet0
The 5th round technical knockout Kevin Lee provided the world on Saturday night was not earned easily. The near 20 minutes of attrition Edson Barboza showed through the utter beatdown he received was admirable to say the least.. but Kevin Lee is a completely different animal.
Barboza was used to propel Khabib Nurmagomedov before his title fight last month, and a second vicious beating within the span of a few months will hopefully mean Edson gets the rest he deserves. Kevin will need his rest too as the performance he put on was spectacular.
The wrestling and striking combination of Lee's offense created a lot of stops for Edson who found himself struggling to get back to his feet the majority of the fight. MoTown Lee's kicks also proved to be vicious as he matched the muay thai expert with thudding kicks to the body.
The force of Lee's punches and explosiveness seemed to pack more of an effect than Edson's defense and kicks... although deadly at range. Edson did land a monster spinning wheel kick that made Kevin Lee do the chicken dance, stanky leg, or whatever you want to call it.
The fight looked to be done after 3 rounds of domination from the other side, but Lee's endurance showed through and allowed him to survive and take Barboza down with the same explosive energy he was just rocked with. The back and forth affair was exhilarating to say the least.
We can all expect a rematch with Tony and Kevin if the cards become dealt correctly, but a matchup with Khabib is something not out of the ordinary as Kevin Lee is now getting the respect he deserves. It is a good time for the lightweight division... the prime time division!
Barboza should really work on his takedown defense
hahah yeah, but he won't!
I had a bet on Barboza to win by knockout, thought my luck was in when he landed that kick. Fair play to Lee though, even when he was rocked he still got hold of him and took him down.
I feel bad for Barboza he's fought probably the 2 best grapplers in the division back to back. The Khabib one was a mauling but it was like a cat playing with a mouse. However Lee really beat him down, as you said I hope he gets a long rest after this. Then maybe a decent match up against another striker.
It's a tough sport. One day your one top the next your getting kicked.