Rinat Fakhretdinov expected quick finish over Kevin Lee at UFC Vegas 76: “This is exactly what I was planning for”

Rinat Fakhretdinov wasn’t shocked when he finished Kevin Lee in under a minute at UFC Vegas 76.

Fakhretdinov and Lee collided inside the UFC Apex this past Saturday (July 1). This was the featured preliminary bout on the UFC Vegas 76 card. “The Motown Phenom” was hoping to make his UFC return a successful one, but that was far from what ended up happening. Lee was choked out in 55 seconds.

Rinat Fakhretdinov On Quick Win Against Kevin Lee

After his big win, Rinat Fakhretdinov spoke to reporters backstage at UFC Vegas 76. He insisted that the quick and emphatic victory over Kevin Lee was all by design (h/t MMAJunkie)

“This is pretty much the fight that I expected,” Fakhretdinov said. “In Russia, it is customary for us to not say anything until you do it, so you do more than what you say, so I was keeping quiet. This is exactly what I was planning for. I know that people were saying that I only have boring fights, but I hope that I proved myself and I changed that.”

A clean right hand by Fakhretdinov was the start of Lee’s downfall, which led to the choke. Fakhretdinov said it’s something that he trained for.

“I trained that,” Fakhretdinov said. “I knew that if I landed that, that was going to be the end. When I landed – I think it was the right hand – that’s the one. This is my key punch. This is the punch that got me the contract from Dana White, and now the one that I dropped Kevin Lee with. I feel like if I get the next fight soon, this is going to be the shot that gets me the win.”

RELATED: PROS REACT AFTER RINAT FAKHRETDINOV FINISHES KEVIN LEE IN 55 SECONDS AT UFC VEGAS 76

Having nabbed a big win over a known name in scary fashion, Rinat Fakhretdinov has likely set himself up for a big matchup in his next outing.