Kevin Lee open to 'easy money' fight vs. Justin Gaethje but not before big changes to style, camp

Kevin Lee will happily oblige fellow UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje’s callout, but he won’t rush back to make it happen.

Lee (16-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) hasn’t fought since falling short of the interim 155-pound title against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216 in October. Lee said afterward that he planned to take some time off, and the sudden death of his coach, Robert Follis, appears to have compounded that plan. “The Motown Phenom” appeared on Sirius XM’s “MMA Tonight” on Wednesday and revealed he’s about to make some significant career changes.

“I’m changing up my whole style,” Lee told hosts Miesha Tate and Sean O’Connell. “I’m changing up my team around me. There’s been a lot of things happening, especially at the end of this last year, unfortunately, that I’ve had to make changes. But it’s a new year. It’s a new start. When I come back the folks are going to see a new me.

“I’m still young in the game, and I’ve got a long time to go,” he continued. “I want to make the necessary changes to my camp. I just changed new management, too. It’s going to be a lot of big changes coming, and I think a lot of people are going to be excited about it. And I’m only going up from here, regardless of who it is against.”

On Tuesday, Gaethje (18-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) told “The MMA Hour” that he would like to fight Lee next because he likes “punching loudmouths in the face.” The former WSOF champ is coming off the first loss of his career, a third-round knockout vs. Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 in December.

After the loss to Alvarez and his “Fight of the Year” contender win against Michael Johnson at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale in July, UFC President Dana White said he would like to see Gaethje take some time off. Lee agrees, but if the timing of Gaethje’s return lines up with his own, he said the fight would be “easy money.”

“If it’s going to be against Justin, I like easy money,” Lee said. “Justin likes to take a lot of damage; I like to give a lot of damage. It seems like a good matchup to me, but I’m trying to look out for Justin’s health here. He needs some time, too. The man has taken a lot of beatings over the last couple months. I don’t think he wants another one right here, right now. And if he does, then so be it. But for now I’m taking my time.”

For more on the UFC’s schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.