Despite recently signing with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), Kevin Lee asserts that his involvement with the Global Fight League (GFL) is not yet resolved from his perspective.
The former interim UFC title challenger was expected to be a key part of GFL`s planned debut this year. The new league had announced its initial events for May 24th and May 25th, featuring several well-known MMA figures such as Tony Ferguson, Anthony Pettis, Holly Holm, and others, though Lee himself was not scheduled to compete on those specific dates.
Lee was officially announced as a member of the GFL roster back in December. However, six months later, he is now a PFL fighter and is set to face Gadzhi Rabadanov at PFL 5 on June 20th.
Speaking with SiriusXM, Lee alleged that GFL took advantage of fighters by making financial promises that were not kept. He revealed that he and his team are preparing to take legal action against the promotion.
These last maybe 12 months or so we were in pretty heavy talks with GFL. They were supposed to be the new startup promotion. They were supposed to be the next big thing, and I got behind them pretty good. The talks were great, but there wasn’t no action behind it.
Lee added that he must be cautious about revealing too many details due to the ongoing legal process, confirming he will be suing GFL for defamation and extortion.
I think that they used guys like me and used our name in order to get out there and be a major face of the MMA promotion business and nothing ever came from it.
GFL founder Darren Owen has publicly stated that the cancellation of the events was caused by a primary investor failing to meet a funding commitment, while maintaining his intention to launch the promotion in the future. However, Alan Belcher, another fighter who had signed with GFL, publicly described the league as a “scam.”
Lee now appears to be on more solid ground as he prepares for his upcoming PFL bout against Gadzhi Rabadanov, an opponent currently riding an 11-fight win streak. Stepping in as a replacement fighter, Lee views this fight as a significant opportunity.
That’s exactly what it is and that’s all I’m focused on. I’m not focused on nothing else but that. Even the last six, seven months, that’s all I’ve been focused on is getting back up there and competing against a top lightweight. And this guy is that.
He continued, acknowledging Rabadanov`s high level of competition, irrespective of promotional affiliation.
Some people think that the UFC is the be-all, end-all and those are the best fighters, but this guy’s a very, very top competitor. So once I go out there, and I beat him on June 20, I’m going to show that I’m still one of the best lightweights in the world. I feel a lot of people have written me off. A lot of people either forget or they just write me off. They think – I don’t know what they think, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I see people doubting me, I hope they continue to doubt me, I hope they continue to write me off, to not think about it, and I’m going to show them in a big way on June 20 when I go out there and stomp a lightweight that’s been proving himself again and again. Once I stop him in the way that I can, I’m going to show that I’m still one of the top lightweights, just like I was a few years ago.
Oliver Croft