In the main card of the lightweight match-up between Kevin Lee and Gregor Gillespie at UFC 244, the Rhode Island native Gillespie was brutally knocked out in the first round.
Gillespie, who is one of the most dominant wrestlers in the lightweight division was the betting favourite to defeat Lee, but a head kick from the ‘Mo-Town Phenom’ KOed him unconscious. This was his first loss of Gillespie’s professional career and it was also a very important win for Lee who was coming off of a two-fight losing streak.
In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Gillespie is in good spirits as he opened up about his loss at UFC 244.
“You know how it goes. You get knocked out, I had a headache for a day or two, but I’m good now,” Gillespie said. “I’m in good spirits, you know my ego was hurt a little bit, obviously, someone who never loses and then they lose and you’ve gotta imagine that there’s gonna be some emotions about that, which there were. But my spirit is intact.”
“I asked for a step up in competition. Kevin Lee is a really good opponent,” Gillespie said. “A lot of people were saying, ‘He’s on a losing streak.’ Kevin Lee is not on a downward spiral and I knew that going in. Not for one second did I think I’m picking a guy going down, he’s not. You look at his last four or five fights, they’re all guys who have fought for a title or have a belt, he’s super f*cking good.
“I know that when you ask for better fights like that, your risk of losing goes up. That’s kind of how that goes. So that’s something I was definitely very, very aware of. That’s the risk when you’re fighting anyone, especially in the UFC, but when you take a fight against a guy who fought for a title at one point, your risk of getting beat—not just beat, but knocked out—goes up. That’s a risk I was willing to take.” (BJPenn.com)
What do you guys think should be next for Gillespie? Who should he fight next?
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