Gregor Gillespie may have been caught looking too far ahead. With talk of the elite wrestler possibly being a good match for current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, he first had to go through Kevin Lee, a one-time interim lightweight title challenger.
Although he acknowledged his had to first win this fight, it was hard to ignore the chatter about a future title fight. Well, with one kick, that title fight dream has been put on hold for Gillespie.
The undefeated Gillespie, who entered Saturday's match with a 6-0 record in the UFC, was knocked out in the first round against Lee. While the No. 11-ranked Gillespie is still relatively unknown by most UFC fans, he's a dangerous fighter and Lee approached the match knowing he faced a difficult matchup. Lee, who returned to the division after a one-fight stint at welterweight, came prepared.
Both fighters came out looking to strike and each of them landed quick, snapping shots. Lee suffered a cut under his left eye early on, but appeared unphased as the two boxed through the first few minutes. About halfway through the round, Lee connected with a right hand and followed with a roundhouse kick that landed square on the side of Gillespie's head, which immediately knocked him out cold.
With the win, Kevin Lee tied Tony Ferguson and Beneil Dariush for most lightweight wins since 2014, his UFC debut year, with 11. He has seven lightweight finishes which is second among lightweights since 2014, behind only Tony Ferguson's 8.