Kevin Lee: Champ Conor McGregor has lost 3 of 4, got 'outwrestled' by 40-year-old boxer

Kevin Lee is doing all he can to lure Conor McGregor into a UFC lightweight title-unification match. That, of course, is assuming he claims the interim belt on Saturday at UFC 216.

Lee (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) knows how to talk a big game, which he’s proved ahead of his UFC 216 headliner with Tony Ferguson (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC), which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a pay-per-view main card following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

The event marks the first time the UFC has implemented an interim title in the 155-pound division, and it comes on the heels of McGregor’s (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) lengthy absence after claiming the belt from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November. “The Notorious” has since been tied up with a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, which he lost by TKO in Round 10, and other out-of-the-octagon pursuits.

McGregor, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, recently said one of his top priorities coming back to the UFC and defending his title so he can silence the detractors who point out he’s never done so. He specifically named the winner of No. 8-ranked Lee vs. No. 3-ranked Ferguson as an opponent of interest, but “The Motown Phenom” said he has nothing to prove to the Irishman.

“I think (the fight vs. Ferguson) already is for the real championship,” Lee said Monday during a UFC 216 media luncheon (watch it above). “Conor, to me, he’s got to prove that he’s ready to fight. As far as I’m concerned, the man has lost three of his last four fights. I don’t even think he beat Nate Diaz the second time. I like a big challenge, so he’s got to show me a little bit.”

Following the bout with Mayweather, McGregor and his camp seemed to shift their attention to a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC). The pair has split results over two meetings, and a third matchup would certainly do big business.

Lee said perhaps another clash with Diaz really is what should happen next. He’s certain it would be an easier outing than if McGregor were to share the octagon with him.

“He’s a small dude, too, (having fought at) 145,” Lee said. “He was getting outwrestled by a dude that’s 40 years old and a boxer. (Mayweather) was beating him in the clinches and outwrestling him. You’ve got to show a little bit more than that to me. So after this one, maybe I might give him a shot at the title. Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll see how he kind of reacts. Maybe he should fight Nate again and prove that he can beat a top fighter.”

Real title? @motownphenom says @thenotoriousmma will have to get it from him after #UFC216 • • • ?? @usatodaysports

A post shared by MMAjunkie (@mmajunkiedotcom) on Oct 2, 2017 at 7:17pm PDT

From a sporting perspective, McGregor fighting the Lee-Ferguson winner is logical. What’s logical, though, isn’t always what happens in the UFC these days, and though Lee would seemingly be foolish to do anything other than jump on an opportunity to fight the biggest star in the sport, he said a fight with McGregor will only happen under his conditions – not the other way around.

“It’ll be on my terms,” Lee said. “I’m expecting to take some damage in this fight. I’m doing the hard work. I’m doing the heavy lifting. No one wanted to fight Tony. Conor didn’t want to fight Tony. It’ll be on my timetable. I’ll tell him when we’re going to fight. If we fight on St. Patrick’s Day, maybe. That might make some good business sense.”

For complete coverage of UFC 216, check out the UFC Events section of the site.