Barboza: Kevin Lee was physically stronger than Khabib

Edson Barboza has revealed that Kevin Lee, not Khabib Nurmagomedov, was the physically strongest opponent of his career, recalling that Lee simply picked him up and slammed him to the mat. Barboza described Khabib as a master technician who was always one step ahead, and noted he actually considers his loss to Khabib a learning experience given he had only five weeks of preparation and was recovering from major shoulder and bicep surgery at the time. On his knockout loss to Justin Gaethje, Barboza said he failed to execute the game plan and was caught by a punch he never saw coming.