MMA insider comments on "breach of trust" after Kevin Lee fumes at leaked footage showing him suffering a nasty knockdown

Kevin Lee last competed in the UFC back in July 2023 as he suffered a first-round submission loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC on ESPN 48. It marked his return to the promotion after a nearly two-year departure. However, he retired following the loss.

'The Motown Phenom' has since returned to mixed martial arts, picking up a first-round victory on the regional scene last September. Footage recently emerged of Lee suffering a knockdown after half-heartedly attempting a flying knee during a sparring session at Kill Cliff FC. The former interim lightweight title challenger took to X on Wednesday to react to the footage, posting:

"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 showing sparring imma start showing sparrings from now on"

Mixed martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani reacted to Lee's post, adding:

"If that came from someone in the gym, what an awful thing to do. Breach of trust. Gym should kick that person out for good."

Check out Kevin Lee's tweet on the viral social media footage and Ariel Helwani's response below:

While it is unclear what drill Lee and his sparring partner, Mirali Huseynov, were working on, it appears that the former did not attempt to land the flying knee he had loaded up. Fans pointed out that in the footage, 'The Motown Phenom' was not wearing headgear, while his sparring partner was.

Mirali Huseynov responds to leaked Kevin Lee footage

Mirali Huseynov was the fighter who knocked Kevin Lee down during a recent sparring session. He labeled the former UFC interim lightweight title challenger as his favorite sparring partner while claiming he did not want the video leaked, stating:

"I don't suppose to share everywhere that video. I didn't want that. He's my favorite partner because we always work each other hard. The hard work always, it pays when you fight. That was not my point to hit him hard. Flying knee coming, what should I do?...

"He's my favorite partner. We always work hard and afterwards, I say to him, 'brother, everything good?' He hits me hard, I hit him hard."

Check out Mirali Huseynov's full comments on the Kevin Lee sparring footage below:

Huseynov reiterated that he did not want the footage to be leaked. Fans noted that he commented on an Instagram page asking them to delete the clip, adding that doesn't know how they got the footage.