Former UFC interim Lightweight world title-challenger Kevin Lee is now set to compete in a grappling match on the upcoming Submission Underground 28 card against Bellator veteran Cris Lencioni. Lee is best-known for his five-fight win-streak that culminated in a fight against Tony Ferguson for the interim Lightweight world title that would’ve let to a meeting with the reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Lee was submitted in the third round of that fight and hasn’t been able to find the same form that got him there since then.
He managed to right the ship against Edson Barboza with a fifth-round stoppage victory, but since then he’s only managed to win one out of his next five fights including two unsuccessful trips to the Welterweight division. Lencioni on the other hand holds a respectable 7-2 professional MMA record and is best known for his last win against AJ Agazarm that resulted in him suffering a severe knee injury. Lencioni hasn’t been seen in an MMA fight since then but has registered victories at the Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds and most recently Submission Underground 27.
Lee has fallen on hard times recently however as he’s only competed once in 2021 and came out on the losing side of a unanimous decision against Daniel Rodriguez. Not only that, but Lee also tested positive for Adderall and as a result was served with a six-month suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It makes sense then that Lee would turn to the professional grappling circuit now and Submission Underground has a history of setting up matches involving high-level MMA fighters.
Submission Underground 28 Main Card
Haisam Rida v Andy Varela
Guilherme Vasconcelos v Aaron Tiegs
Kevin Lee v Cris Lencioni
Juliana Miller v Tara LaRosa
Tanner Weisgram v Kyle Chambers
Preliminary Card
Mikey Gonzalez v Matt Ferraiolo
Morgan Matuizek v Phelan Carron
Roman Wheeler v Charlie Gilpin
Ian King v Reed Wallace
Caleb Stecker v Jimmy Zeng
The full Submission Underground 28 event including Kevin Lee v Cris Lencioni will be available to watch live on Sunday, October 31st, on UFC FightPass, click here to subscribe and watch.