Andrea Lee Isn’t Thinking About the Belt, but Plans on Taking it at Legacy FC 49

While she’s not happy with the fact that she lost the first fight of her career to close out 2014, flyweight up-and-comer Andrea “KGB” Lee does see good thing came out of it.

Against veteran Roxanne Modafferi at Invicta FC 10, Lee was able to push the fight to a split-decision; proving she belongs near the top of the 125-pound class and helping her make proper changes to her game.

“I learned a lot from that loss,” Lee told MMAWeekly.com. “There were some things I needed working on. I feel like I’m doing a lot better in my all-around game and it has improved a lot since then.

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“I’m not making any excuses. I lost the fight. It was an honor to fight Roxanne, but to lose to her was not a bad thing, especially at such an early stage in my career. I wish I would have won, but fighting her showed that I could compete with girls at her level.”

Lee was able to rebound this September with a late third-round submission of Rachael Ostovich at Invicta 14.

“I was able to display a lot of my jiu-jitsu and wrestling, and my stand-up was on point, so everything went well,” said Lee. “I felt like I really performed well that night. Not taking anything away from Rachael, she did well and was a tough girl, but I was the better fighter that night.”

Next up for Lee (3-1) is a 125-pound title shot at Legacy FC 49 in Shreveport, La., against Ariel Beck (3-1) this Friday night in the evening’s co-main event.

“Ariel has some really good hands, is tough and aggressive, but I feel like I’m an aggressive fighter, too,” said Lee. “She likes to come forward and I like to come forward. But I think that I’m better-rounded than she is.

“I have more wrestling and jiu-jitsu. If my stand-up is not working for me, I’ll be able to take her down and control her there and feel comfortable. Anywhere this fight goes, I feel good about it.”

While others around her may be looking towards the future, Lee has her mind set on Friday night and picking up the win against Beck. Anything that comes after that is secondary.

“It’s my first professional title shot and it means a lot to me, but I’m not thinking about it as that. I’m thinking about it as another fight, so that way I don’t get myself all nervous about how big the fight is,” said Lee.

“I’m the type of person that likes to go fight-by-fight. My manager/coach/husband plans ahead for me. He’s already planning my next fight. I need to focus on this one, not the next one; so he’s always the one working steps ahead. I’m focused on one thing and will let him do the rest.”

(Photo courtesy of Invicta FC/Esther Linn)