UFC 197 Prelim Breakout Star: Kevin Lee

The Prelim Breakout Star is a once per event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented guy on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.

How often is it that we get a Prelim Breakout Star with six career UFC fights? I can assure you that it isn’t all that often. It’s even more rare to have one with as much success as our pick for this weekend. This just goes to show how deep this card is. So, make sure you tune in early for this one.

Kevin Lee

Nickname – The Motown Phenom
Affiliation – Xtreme Couture
From – Grand Rapids, Michigan
Height – 5’9“
Weight – 155 lbs (Lightweight)
Record – 11-2 (4-2 UFC)

What makes him impressive

Lee has shown on numerous occasions that he has some really awesome grappling skills. He outgrappled Jon Tuck and submitted James Moontasri in a division where there are no easy fights. He also gave Al Iaquinta all he could handle in a back and forth decision that he took on short notice. In addition to some really high end grappling skills, he has a lot of physical strength. At only 23 years old, he represents a newer, stronger class of fighters that are going to keep showing up in the world’s biggest organization.

Why he has been overlooked 

Although he is 4-2 in the UFC, his most recent loss was a one-sided TKO loss to Leonardo Silva. Silva may not be a household name yet, but he is 4-0-1 in the UFC, having finished 3 of those 4 wins. So, it certainly should be seen as a quality opponent, but it still did take away a lot of the momentum that he had built.

What makes this a good match-up

Efrain Escudero is a solid grappler. He’s used those grappling skills to make it through two different stints in the UFC and to win The Ultimate Fighter. However, Escudero is up against a guy who grapples just a well as he does. It’s likely that his jiu jitsu game will be nullified. This makes it either a striking match or a game of who has better top game and control. Seeing as there is a clear difference in strength, I’d say that this is going to be Lee’s world and Efrain will be forced to live in it.

Record: 85 Wins, 43 Losses, 1 NC,  2 Did Not Fight (DNF)

1. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Bisping (W)
2. Simeon Thoresen – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Dodson (L)
3. Tyron Woodley – UFC 156 (W)
4. Vaughan Lee – UFC on Fuel: Barao vs McDonald (W)
5. Dennis Bermudez – UFC 157 (W)
6. Cristiano Marcello – UFC on Fuel: Stann vs Silva (L)
7. Daron Cruickshank – UFC 158 (L)
8. Ryan LaFlare – UFC on Fuel: Mousasi vs Latifi (W)
9. Bart Palaszewski – TUF Finale (L)
10. Yoel Romero – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Melendez (W)
11. Rustam Khabilov – UFC 159 (W)
12. Fabio Maldonado – UFC on FX: Belfort vs Rockhold (W)
13. Khabib Nurmagomedov – UFC 160 (W)
14. Antonio Braga Neto – UFC on Fuel: Nogueira vs Werdum (W)
15. Roland Delorme – UFC 161 (W)
16. Seth Baczynski – UFC 162 (L)
17. Jorge Masvidal – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Moraga (W)
18. Ednaldo Oliveira – UFC 163 (L)
19. Mike Brown – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen (L)
20. Dylan Andrews – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann (W)
21. Soa Palelei – UFC 164 (W)
22. Elias Silverio – UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Bader (W)
23. John Makdessi – UFC 165 (W)
24. Alan Patrick – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs Shields (W)
25. Andre Fili – UFC 166 (W)
26. Jimy Hettes – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Munoz (W)
27. Germaine de Randamie – UFC Fight for the Troops 3 (L)
28. Omari Akhmedov – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)
29. Sergio Pettis – UFC 167 (W)
30. Roxanne Modafferi – TUF Finale (L)
31. Takeya Mizugaki – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Bigfoot (W)
32. Alptekin Ozkilic – UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Benavidez (W)
33. Siyar Bahadurzada – UFC 168 (L)
34. Mairbek Taisumov – UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs Lim (W)
35. Charlie Brenneman – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Philippou (L)
36. Walt Harris – UFC on Fox: Henderson vs Thomson (L)
37. Clint Hester – UFC 169 (W)
38. Joe Proctor – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Mousasi (W)
39. Aljamain Sterling – UFC 170 (W)
40. Zak Cummings – TUF China Finale (DNF)
41. Cyrille Diabate – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)
42. Mats Nilsson – UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa (L)
43. Alex Garcia – UFC 171 (W)
44. Hans Stringer – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Henderson (W)
45. Jim Alers – UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs Nelson (W)
46. Ryan Jimmo – TUF Finale (W)
47. Caio Magalhaes – UFC on Fox: Werdum vs Browne (W)
48. Joe Ellenberger – UFC 172 (DNF)
49. Kyoji Horiguchi – UFC Fight Night: Brown vs Silva (W)
50. Francisco Trinaldo – UFC 173 (L)
51. Iuri Alcantara – UFC FIght Night: Mousasi vs Munoz (W)
52. Paulo Thiago – TUF Brazil Finale (L)
53. Jon Tuck – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Khabilov (W)
54. Mike Easton – UFC 174 (L)
55. Ian Entwistle – UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs Te Huna (L)
56. Ray Borg – UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Stevens (W)
57. Rob Font – UFC 175 (W)
58. Derrick Lewis – TUF Finale (W)
59. Jessamyn Duke – UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs Miller (L)
60. Nikita Krylov – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao (W)
61. Patrick Cummins – UFC on Fox: Lawler vs Brown (W)
62. Sam Alvey – UFC Fight Night: Bader vs Saint Preux (L)
63. Yuta Sasaki – UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Le (W)
64. Ben Saunders – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs dos Anjos (W)
65. Damon Jackson – UFC 177 (L)
66. Chas Skelly – UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs Mousasi (W)
67. Godofredo ‘Pepey’ Castro – UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs Arlovski (W)
68. Alex Caceres – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Nelson (L)
69. Cody Gibson – UFC 178 (L)
70. Marcin Bandel – UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs Story (L)
71. Jason Saggo -UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs Saffiedine (L)
72. Yan Cabral – UFC 179 (W)
73. Jake Mathews – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Bisping (W)
74. Thomas Almeida – UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Saint Preux (W)
75. Gabriel Benitez – UFC 180 (W)
76. Paige VanZant – UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs Swanson (W)
77. Clay Collard – UFC 181 (W)
78. Aisling Daly – TUF Finale (W)
79. Jamie Varner – UFC on Fox 13 (L)
80. Jake Collier – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Dollaway (L)
81. Alexis Dufresne – UFC 182 (L)
82. Charles Rosa – UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver (W)
83. Konstantin Erokhin – UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs Johnson (L)
84. Sara McMann – UFC 183 (L)
85. James Moontasri – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Thatch (W)
86. William ‘Patolino’ Macario – UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs Mir (L)
87. Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto – UFC 184 – (NC)
88. Joseph Duffy – UFC 185 (W)
89. Christos Giagos – UFC Fight Night: Maia vs LaFlare (W)
90. Ron Stallings – UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs Mendes (W)
91. Stevie Ray – UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs Cro Cop 2 (W)
92. Beneil Dariush – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Machida (W)
93. Olivier Aubin-Mercier – UFC 186 (W)
94. Lisa Ellis – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Miocic (L)
95. Dhiego Lima – UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs Faber (L)
96. Islam Makhachev – UFC 187 (W)
97. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos – UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Alves (L)
98. Ricardo Abreu – UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs Hendeson (L)
99. Henry Cejudo – UFC 188 (W)
100. Makwan Amirkhani – UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk (W)
101. Steve Mongtomery – UFC Fight Night: Machida vs Romero (L)
102. Cody Garbrandt – UFC 189 (W)
103. George Sullivan – UFC Fight Night: Ellenberger vs Thompson (W)
104. Kevin Casey – UFC Fight Night: Mir vs Duffee (W)
105. Jimmie Rivera – UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Leites (W)
106. Andrew Holbrook – UFC on Fox 16 (W)
107. Warlley Alves – UFC 190 (W)
108. Frankie Saenz – UFC Fight Night: St. Preux vs Teixeira (W)
109. Misha Cirkunov – UFC Fight Night: Oliveira vs Holloway (W)
110. Nazareno Malegarie – UFC 191 (L)
111. Shinsho Anzai – UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs Nelson (W)
112. Sage Northcutt – UFC 192 (W)
113. Tom Breese – UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs Smolka (W)
114. Johnny Case – UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson (W)
115. Kyle Noke – UFC 193 (W)
116. Taylor Lapilus – UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs Magny (L)
117. Yui Chul Nam – UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs Masvidal (L)
118. Santiago Ponzinibbio – UFC Fight Night: VanZant vs Namajunas (W)
119. Ryan Hall – TUF Finale (W)
120. Tecia Torres – UFC 194 (W)
121. Tamdan McCrory – UFC on Fox 17 (W)
122. Scott Holtzman – UFC 195 (L)
123. Ilir Latifi – UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs Cruz (W)
124. Dustin Ortiz – UFC on Fox 18 (L)
125. Noad Lahat – UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs Thompson (L)
126. Ashlee Evans-Smith – UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs Cowboy (W)
127. Arnold Allen – UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Bisping (W)
128. Vitor Miranda – UFC 196 (W)
129. Daniel Hooker – UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Mir (W)
130. Bojan Velickovic – UFC Fight Night: Dos Santos vs Rothwell (W)
131. Oluwale Bangbose – UFC on Fox 19 (L)