Kevin Lee Reacts After Leaked Sparring Footage Shows Him Being Dropped

KEVIN WATCH OUT pic.twitter.com/jeBJxFsknL

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) February 5, 2025

Kevin Lee isn’t especially pleased after footage of a recent sparring session went public.

In a video making the rounds on social media, Lee is dropped by an overhand right after missing a flying knee attempt during practice at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. The UFC veteran returns to his feet but is still wobbly as Robbie Lawler attends to him. Lee can be overheard saying, “I’m good,” and Lawler responds by telling him to “Walk it off.”

While such instances aren’t necessarily uncommon during training, it’s rare for video of sparring to be released. It’s currently unclear how the footage became available, but Lee was understandably unhappy that it did.

“[I don’t know] who posted that video or why, but I’m heading right now to find out,” Lee wrote on X. “I can only blame myself for showing mercy and pulling my knee back but it’s training so I thought let me not blast him. I see I shouldn’t have been playing around with a guy like that. Since mfs wanna start showing sparring [I’m going to] start showing sparrings from now on.”

Idk who posted that video or why but I’m heading right now to find out. I can only blame myself for showing mercy and pulling my knee back but it’s training so I thought let me not blast him. I see I shouldn’t have been playing around with a guy like that. Since mfs wanna start…

— Kevin Lee MTP (@MoTownPhenom) February 5, 2025

The 32-year-old Lee fought once in 2024, scoring a first-round submission victory against Thiago Oliveira at Lights Out Championship 17 in Wayne, Michigan, this past September. “The Motown Phenom” announced his retirement after his UFC return saw him suffer a 55-second submission loss to Rinat Rakhretdinov in July 2023. That decision proved to be short-lived, as he announced his comeback early in 2024.

Lee was a highly-regarded talent early in his UFC tenure, winning nine of his first 11 outings from 2014 to 2017. More recently, he was selected in the Global Fight League draft by the New York team.