While Kevin Lee has recently joined the PFL, his dealings with the Global Fight League (GFL) promotion are, in his view, far from concluded.
The former interim UFC title contender was expected to be a key figure in the GFL`s planned debut this year. The new league had announced its initial events for May 24th and 25th, listing numerous prominent MMA fighters such as Tony Ferguson, Anthony Pettis, Holly Holm, Urijah Faber, Benson Henderson, Paige VanZant, Sage Northcutt, and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane among the scheduled competitors.
Although Lee was not slated to compete on those specific May dates, he was announced as a GFL roster member in December. Half a year later, he is now signed with PFL and is preparing for his fight against Gadzhi Rabadanov at PFL 5 on June 20th.
Speaking on SiriusXM, Lee stated that GFL took advantage of fighters by making financial commitments that were not honored. He revealed that he and his team are pursuing legal measures.
Lee quoted, “Over the past roughly 12 months, we were engaged in significant discussions with GFL. They presented themselves as the upcoming startup promotion, poised to be the next major force, and I strongly supported them. The conversations were promising, but ultimately, nothing materialized from it.”
He continued, “I`m limited in what I can say regarding the situation because we are currently involved in legal proceedings. I will be suing them for defamation and extortion. In my opinion, they exploited fighters like myself, leveraging our names to establish themselves as a prominent entity in the MMA promotion industry, and yet, nothing concrete resulted from it.”
GFL founder Darren Owen attributed the cancellation of events to a key investor`s failure to fulfill a funding promise, asserting that he still intends to launch the promotion eventually. Conversely, Alan Belcher, another fighter who had signed with GFL, described the organization as a “scam.”
Lee now appears to be in a more stable position as he gets ready to face Rabadanov, who boasts an 11-fight winning streak and hasn`t lost since 2020. Lee is stepping in for the injured Jay Jay Wilson, and a victory against the reigning 2024 PFL lightweight tournament champion would propel him directly into the finals with just a single win.
When questioned if he views this fight as a chance to make a significant statement, Lee responded, “That is precisely what it is, and it`s my sole focus. I`m concentrating on nothing else. For the past six or seven months, my entire attention has been on returning to this level and competing against a top lightweight opponent. And he certainly fits that description.”
He added, “Some believe the UFC is the ultimate standard with the best fighters, but this individual is undeniably a top-tier competitor. Therefore, by stepping in there and defeating him on June 20th, I will demonstrate that I remain among the world`s elite lightweights. I sense many have dismissed me. A lot of people either forget about me or simply write me off. They think – I`m not sure what they think, but it`s irrelevant to me. I see the doubt, and I hope it persists; I hope they keep writing me off and don`t consider me. I will prove them wrong in a significant manner on June 20th when I step out and defeat a lightweight who has consistently proven himself. By stopping him in the way I am capable of, I will show that I am still one of the premier lightweights, just as I was several years ago.”
Marcus Blakely