UFC Fight Night 99's Kevin Lee: 'A champion performs even when nobody's watching'

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – UFC lightweight Kevin Lee wasn’t exactly happy when he got the call to fight Magomed Mustafaev – but you already knew that.

Short of a shot at Conor McGregor, there’s little that might satisfy the perpetually unsatisfied Lee, who’s won two straight and calls out bigger name opponents on a weekly basis.

Lee might have made waves behind the scenes had the boss not given him a call. But when UFC President Dana White rung him and made the case, he calmed down a bit.

“When they first approached me, I wasn’t too interested,” Lee (13-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie about his UFC Fight Pass-streamed prelim against Mustafaev (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 99, which takes place Saturday at SSE Arena Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland. “This will be my ninth UFC fight, this will be this kid’s third – but I wasn’t going to do it.

“Then Dana called me himself and explained the situation and it made a lot of sense to me. This one’s about me. A champion performs even when nobody’s watching. That’s kind of how I’m viewing it. I’m viewing it as this will be a mental battle.”

The last time Lee had a fight like that, he got handed a slice of humble pie. A strong favorite against “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2” winner Leonardo Santos, he underestimated his opposition and wound up on the losing end of a TKO, which snapped a four-fight streak.

Beating Mustafaev isn’t just a chance to up his current run to three wins, but show he’s learned a lesson by putting on a dominant performance.

Still, he’s got no illusions about the stakes of the fight and what happens with a win.

“I’m very realistic about this game,” Lee said. “After the big New York card (at UFC 205), it’s a small Fight Pass card and we in Northern Ireland. I ain’t close to Irish.

“I had a couple brothers come up to me in the lobby here and stuff like that, but I’m very realistic. This will just be a fight for me and my team. And the money’s still the same, so I got to go out there and I got to make that money.”

Watch the above video to get Lee’s thoughts on the fight.

For more on UFC Fight Night 99, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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