Exclusive: Kevin Lee Says Barboza’s Striking Surprised Him, Talks Being A Meme

Kevin Lee made quite the impression in stopping Edson Barboza on April 21, and despite the dominant performance, Lee didn't avoid danger.

Lee was almost wheel kicked out of the cage during the third round of the fight, and two rounds later, had the bout sealed up. Even though the fight was fairly one-sided, Lee stated in an interview with Fightful.com that he was a little perplexed by the resilient power of Barboza.

"His ability to still have that explosiveness and be dog tired. In that third round, he got the wobble legs out of me. We finished that round and I still won that round. In the fourth round is when I wondered how it was he could still throw so hard. I sat back and I watched him and what he was doing. How he was sliding, committing, over-committing. He was a better striker than I gave him credit for, and before the fight I already thought he was the best striker," Lee said.

The third round kick Lee spoke of was one that Barboza has used in the past to maim Terry Etim, in one of the UFC's all-time greatest knockouts at UFC 142. Lee danced around, wobbly, rolling his ankle as he looked to regain his footing. The moment became the subject of memes all across the internet. Lee, however, rolled with the punches (or kick).

"Folks wanted me to lose that fight, too," Lee said. "They wanted me to get kicked in the head, and I gave it to them like an idiot. Even (Daniel Cormier) came out and said he doesn't know why people started to love him. I'm just going to be me. People are going to want to see me knocked out again, but it's not going to happen!"

Lee wouldn't commit to when he'll return to the cage, but did say that he'd be open to taking a September date against Nate Diaz.

In the full interview, Kevin Lee (17-3) recaps his fifth round TKO win over Edson Barboza (19-6) at UFC Fight Night 128 on Apr. 21. You can see the full interview above.