Paid With Bitcoin, Kevin Lee Ready To Fight Again With Eagle FC

JAKARTA - Kevin Lee, a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, said that the main factor in his decision to sign a contract with a new promotion company was Bitcoin (BTC).

According to a report from MMA news outlet BJ Penn, Russia-based Eagle Fighting Championship will pay Lee in BTC as part of a four-fight contract. The fighter has reportedly been a HODLer since before the 2017 bull run. He then used some of those profits to live on after paying for knee surgery.

“Being paid in Bitcoin and not giving me any resistance was huge in the decision [to sign with Eagle FC],” Lee said, as quoted by Cointelegraph. “This gives me more financial security and will help me fight better too.”

The payout from Eagle FC was not disclosed, but Lee has previously earned as much as $280.000 through his UFC fight with Tony Ferguson. In a December 17 interview, Lee implied Eagle FC would pay more than he made while under contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. This means the potential payout is 5.86 BTC or more at the current price.

Lee, known as The Motown Phenom, was recently suspended from fighting for six months and fined after testing positive for Adderall, a doping drug. He was later released from his UFC contract before Eagle FC tried to add him to their roster. His first fight with Eagle FC, is expected to be against Diego Sanchez on March 11, 2022.

The UFC has studied the benefits of digital assets through partnerships with crypto and blockchain companies. In July, the organization signed a $175 million (IDR 2.4 trillion) deal with Crypto.com over the next ten years. It was an agreement that eventually led to the release of the UFC-licensed nonfungible token.

In addition, previous battle championships have partnered with blockchain reward app Socios and tokenization platform Chiliz to release fan tokens.

Individual MMA fighters have expressed interest in BTC and other tokens since Jon Fitch became the first professional fighter to be paid in Bitcoin in 2015.

Last year, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez said he had bought some BTC, while Ben Askren was paid to promote Litecoin (LTC) and endorse the latest BTC half.