The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s runaway freight train of a 2020 schedule barrels forward with UFC Fight Night 170 on Saturday in Brasilia, Brazil, where Kevin Lee will collide with Charles Oliveira in a lightweight main event showcasing two of the organization’s ascendant stars at 155 pounds.
The enigmatic Lee now operates out of the Firas Zahabi-led Tristar Gym in Montreal. The 27-year-old last fought at UFC 244 on Nov. 2, when he scored one of the year’s most vicious knockouts by wiping out Gregor Gillespie with a savage head kick. Lee has compiled a stellar 11-5 record since he joined the UFC roster a little more than six years ago, his resume highlighted by victories over Edson Barboza, Michael Chiesa, Magomed Mustafaev and Jake Matthews. “The Motown Phenom” wrestled collegiately at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, but elected to forgo his final two years of eligibility to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.
Cover Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC (Getty Images)
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Kevin Lee punches Rafael Dos Anjos. Photo: Brett Carlsen (Getty Images)
Oliveira enters the cage with the wind of a six-fight winning streak in his sails. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holds the all-time UFC record for submission wins with 13, and he has used a variety of methods: four by rear-naked choke, three by anaconda choke, three by guillotine choke, one by triangle choke, one by armbar and one by calf slicer. Oliveira, who trains at a Chute Boxe affiliate in Sao Paulo, Brazil, last competed at UFC Fight Night 164, where he cut down Jared Gordon with punches on Nov. 16.
UFC Fight Night “Lee vs. Oliveira”—which streams live to ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT—also features a welterweight co-headliner matching 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Demian Maia with Gilbert Burns, a light heavyweight affair pitting Johnny Walker against Nikita Krylov and a pair of lightweight tilts, as Renato Carneiro meets Damir Hadzovic and Francisco Trinaldo faces John Makdessi. The entire seven-fight undercard, highlighted by a pivotal flyweight showdown between Jussier Formiga and Brandon Moreno, will stream to ESPN+ at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.
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Charles Oliveira kicks David Teymur. Photo: Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC (Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Bellator MMA will throw its promotional heft behind Bellator 241 on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Headlined by a featherweight grand prix quarterfinal between reigning 145-pound champion Patricio Freire and SBG Ireland’s Pedro Carvalho, the event streams live to Dazn at 10 p.m. ET.
