Kevin Lee willing to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on Dec. 2 after disposing of Tony Ferguson at UFC 216

The mixed martial arts (MMA) community has long debated over the true No. 1 contender at 155 pounds, since both Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov have enjoyed impressive winning streaks on their way to the summit, and typically flip-flop the top spot in the official lightweight rankings.

Kevin Lee plans to settle that argument once and for all.

“Motown Phenom” will first eliminate Tony Ferguson at this weekend’s UFC 216 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Las Vegas, then move on to rid the division of the ass-beating Nurmagomedov at UFC 218 in December.

From his conversation with MMA Fighting:

“How long has that dude been out? How long, it’s been over a year now? He doesn’t want to fight nobody, really. He doesn’t want to fight nobody that proves to be a challenge to him. He wants to hold on to that imaginary ‘0’ that he thinks he’s got. I said I’d take [Nurmagomedov] on in December, Dec. 2, but I don’t know. Now Conor’s saying that he might come back earlier, so we’ll see. We’ll see how this one shakes up after. I’m interested in that, I’m interested in taking on Tony, and then fighting Khabib in December, and then defending the title against Conor, but we’ll see how things shake out.”

Lee vs. Ferguson is for the interim lightweight title.

After the dust settles and the smoke clears at UFC 216, which takes place inside T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 7, Lee will (maybe) grant Conor McGregor a lightweight title fight, but only if “Notorious” can prove he's earned it.

His words, not mine.

To see what else is doing at the upcoming UFC 216 event, check out our “Ferguson vs. Lee” comprehensive news archive by clicking here.