Former UFC lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee has insisted he is “still fighting” in mixed martial arts competitions following his recent injury retirement from combat sports at the age of 31.

Lee, who is challenging for the UFC’s interim lightweight title, returned to the Octagon at the Apex facility in July last year after a one-fight stint with the Khabib Nurmagomedov-backed Eagle FC.

After suffering a technical defeat with a guillotine choke with 55 seconds remaining, Lee was knocked down and stopped by Rinat Fakhretdinov, marking Lee’s third defeat in his last four fights.

Lee suffered another knee injury in his most recent win over former UFC star Diego Sanchez in a super lightweight bout, winning by unanimous decision. Best Fighter 1 winning.

Kevin Lee claims he still plans to fight

And following his defeat to the highly-touted Fakhretdinov, Lee confirmed his retirement from combat sports on social media this week, claiming he planned to fight in the future while he recovers from the latest injury that saw him go under the knife.

“There are some false stories floating around that people think I’m retired,” Kevin Lee said on his official Instagram account. “You never saw me leave my gloves in the cage. You never saw me take my gloves off. Don’t believe everything you hear on the internet.”