Kevin Lee is excited for his mixed martial arts future.
Lee is set for a new chapter in MMA when he makes his debut for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s promotion Eagle FC at their March 11 event at 165 pounds.
Although not official yet, Lee is expected to take on fellow UFC alumni and former lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez in his first outing.
While Eagle FC will want to make a big announcement for the fight, Lee would prefer to keep things simple.
“It looks like that fight is gonna happen,” Lee said on the Schmozone podcast. “We don’t have a signed contract from Diego yet so I can’t officially announce that it’s going on. They want to do it in a special way and all this, they want to announce it themselves. I feel like sometimes we should be flat out about it, just be real about it. That’s what people like about fighting — it’s f*cking real.
“The fight’s going to happen, we’re trying to make it happen but we’re waiting on Diego’s side to finish. I’m not going to wait for a big announcement and all that sh*t.”
Kevin Lee On Getting Paid In Bitcoin
Lee made headlines when it was announced that he had signed a multi-fight deal with Eagle FC just a few weeks after being released from the UFC.
One other major talking point was the fact that Lee would be paid exclusively in bitcoin — something he preferred for the financial security that it brought.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXnNhcsr36u/
While athletes in other sports have been paid in bitcoin, Lee will notably be the first fighter to be paid in the cryptocurrency.
“Yeah, I’ll be the first athlete paid in bitcoin,” Lee added. “I think there’s been a couple of NFL guys, there’s been an NBA guy that did it too but I’ll be the first fighter to be paid in bitcoin.
“… I decided [to get paid in bitcoin]. It’s something we negotiated with them. But it was big to me. I feel the more we use these things, the more value that they’ll have. You gotta practice what you preach so if I practice bitcoin, I got to get paid in it and I want to start paying people in it and I want to do the whole she-bang.”
It will be interesting to see if more fighters follow in Lee’s footsteps.
You can watch the full interview below:
