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Gregor Gillespie suffered the first defeat of his MMA career as he was knocked out cold with a head kick by Kevin Lee at UFC 244. He was 13-0 and waited for a while to take a step-up in competition and took the opportunity by facing a former title challenger in Lee.
Unfortunately for Gillespie, it ended with him staring at the lights above and it was the most devastating finish of the night. When talking to MMA Fighting, Gillespie reflected on the defeat and was very positive about it without any negative feelings towards Kevin Lee.
On the contrary, he was full of praise even before the fight. He told MMA Fighting:
“You know how it goes. You get knocked out, I had a headache for a day or two, but I’m good now."
“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 going to be some emotions about that, which there were. But my spirit is intact.”
He insisted that even though Lee was on a losing streak, he never considered him to be a downgrade in competition. He pointed out that his last 4-5 opponents have all been top title challengers and even former champions.
He also said that he knew that once he took a step up in competition, the chances of losing are far higher and that was a risk that he was willing to take. He shut down the idea of moving to Featherweight due to his "small" size but insisted that he wasn't much smaller than Lee during the bout.
He also chose not to use the size disadvantage as an excuse and praised Lee for his perfectly-timed head kick.
"And again, the size had nothing to do with that. He landed a perfectly executed, perfectly timed, unbelievable kick. People have been saying it was lucky, it was not lucky. It was not unlucky. It was an absolutely perfect kick and it was very well-executed and I give him all the props in the world.”
Gillespie plans to get back soon but is currently serving a 90-day medical suspension.
