"He's the product of popularity" - Kevin Lee says he's not interested in a fight with rising star Khamzat Chimaev

Kevin Lee (left) and Khamzat Chimaev (right) [Image credits: @motownphenom on Instagram]

Kevin Lee is not too keen on fighting rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev in a welterweight bout.

Speaking to Submission Radio, 'The Motown Phenom' said that he does not consider 'Borz' to be enough of a challenge for himself.

"That's [a fight with Khmazat Chimaev] not really the challenge. If anything, he's chasing me...he's behind me and I'm not in the business of looking behind me," said Kevin Lee in the interview.

Lee also expressed doubts over the authenticity of the Swedish fighter's popularity on social media.

"You know what? Honestly, I think he is the product of popularity amongst these Russian fighters... I think there's some tomfoolery going on behind there, to be honest with you. I think there's lot of s**t behind the scenes. I think there's a lot of Russian bots, if we gonna talk about it, you know, and people are like sheep, they like to follow the crowd. So, if they see a whole lot of digital numbers going up, then they tend to go with those numbers and i think Khamzat is gonna benefit from that but you know... I'm not interested in playing those games."

Check out Kevin Lee's appearance on Submission Radio below:

Khamzat Chimaev burst into the UFC in last July and racked up three consecutive wins in just over two months.

Chimaev's domination of his opponents inside the octagon, along with his regular activity, made MMA fans take notice of the 27-year-old.

Khamzat Chimaev and Li Jingliang set to face each other at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi. First reported by @raphamarinho89. pic.twitter.com/zIKB09S3cS
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) July 9, 2021

After being out of action for more than a year, 'Borz' will return to the octagon against Li Jingliang at UFC 267 in October.

Kevin Lee predicts his upcoming fight with Daniel Rodriguez

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A post shared by Kevin Lee (@motownphenom)

Kevin Lee has given a prediction for his upcoming welterweight bout against Daniel Rodriguez on August 28.

In his interview with Submission Radio, 'The Motown Phenom' said:

"I see myself beating [Daniel] Rodriguez bell-to-bell, everytime, in every situation that we [are] in, I beat him. It's gonna be a hell of a fight, he's gonna stand in there, he's gonna get bloody, he's gonna take some shots, but after the first exchange, he's gonna realise that there's different levels to this game," said Kevin Lee.