On this day four years ago, we ran a story about Kevin Lee‘s decision to wear a bullet proof vest at UFC 229.
At UFC 229, the biggest fight in MMA history, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor, took place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The who’s who was in attendance and also watching at home that night, including fellow lightweight Kevin Lee.
Lee had competed for the interim lightweight title one year ago against Tony Ferguson and came out on the losing end when he lost via submission to El Cucuy. On the October, non-Halloween night of October 6, 2018, Lee decided to turn up rocking a full bullet proof vest and avoided any further damage. But why did he do it? The following article helps shed light on that very question.
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Kevin Lee has not been out of the UFC for over a year now after losing to Daniel Rodriguez last August. This marked the second straight loss for Lee in the promotion and his fourth out of his last five UFC fights.
Lee made his MMA return this year when he defeated Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision at Eagle FC 46 in March. And at the start of the year, Kevin Lee did not hold back as to the reason why he believes he was released by the UFC.
The following article is presented in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
On This Day Four Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 9, 2018, 9:17 AM]
Headline: Kevin Lee On Wearing Bulletproof Vest For UFC 229
Author: Jon Fuentes
Kevin Lee made a few fans chuckle this past weekend (Sat. October 6, 2018) at UFC 229. Lee was in attendance for the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor lightweight title fight.
However, the former interim 155-pound title challenger didn’t stick around for the main event. Lee told “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” he left right after doing a breakdown on the prelims, knowing things were going to get hectic later on (via MMA Mania):
“I was there for the prelims and did a little bit of breakdown. But then I left right after. I kind of already knew where that was going to end up going,” said Lee.
“Me, I roll everywhere in Vegas solo, it was already putting me on edge about it, so I showed up and did the whole day with a bulletproof vest and people were asking me why. But I left right after the Michelle Waterson fight.”
That night, Lee posted a photo showing he was wearing a bulletproof vest for the event. Lee admitted it was simply satire mixed with fashion, however, he knew things were going to get rough later that night regardless of the outcome of the main event:
“It was half fashion, half satire, but a lot of people took pictures and was getting on me about it. I didn’t necessarily know a brawl would break out, I just know that dealing with them Russians, they are so butthurt, they are so emotional, sensitive, I didn’t know what was going to happen. So, dealing with those guys you never really know anything,” Lee said.
“They are a bunch of weak-minded individuals to me, so I don’t really like being around them to be honest. As soon as I was able to get up out of there, I did. I went home, watched the fight around my team anyway and we got to sit back and really analyze it and I feel like it came out better.”
What do you think about Lee wearing a bulletproof vest at UFC 229?