This was the kind of star-making performance that Kevin Lee has long sought.
“The Motown Phenom” mauled former Ring of Combat titleholder Edson Barboza across 20-plus minutes, kept his name on a short list of top-shelf Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights and forced a fifth-round stoppage in the UFC Fight Night 128 main event on Saturday at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Having suffered a horrendous cut above his right eye, Barboza bowed out 2:18 into Round 5.
Outside of a spinning heel kick that set Lee on skates in the third round, Barboza offered little in the way of meaningful offense.