Prospect spotlight : Hunter Lee
Weight Class: Middleweight
Record: 7-1
Age: 26
Height: 5’11’’
Born In: Canada
Training Out Of: Modern Martial Arts Center
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 67-44-2
Key Wins: Jeff Craig, Keenan Patershuk
Hunter “Big Game” Lee is a 26-year-old from Flin Flon, Manitoba, who now represents Saskatoon. He was a Huskies wrestler through 2022. Lee built an impressive résumé before committing to MMA. Specifically, he won U Sports gold and multiple Canada West titles. He earned a 2019 Junior World bronze medal and a 2023 Pan American Games bronze at 86 kg. Additionally, he secured a spot as an alternate on Canada’s Olympic team. He still hasn’t completely closed the door on a return to wrestling for the 2028 cycle.
Since making his Unified MMA debut in 2022, the Modern Martial Arts Center product, who has also spent time at Tristar, has compiled a 7-1 record. Early decision wins over Kristopher Bryan and Dorjan Dokaj came first. These were followed by a 205-pound knockout of Cal Kostiniuk. There was a unanimous decision over Chris Choo in Tampa. Then he achieved a first-round twister submission of longtime veteran Ricardo Chavez. Lee captured the vacant Unified middleweight title by stopping Keanan Patershuk. Afterward, he added CFFC interim gold with a 12-second knockout of Jeffrey Craig in Philadelphia.
His lone loss came by split decision against Maksim Sergeev on UFC Fight Pass. Lee now returns to action this week in Edmonton, where he takes on Darian Weeks at Unified 69.
Hunter “Big Game” Lee brings legitimate KO power to the Middleweight division, backed by a wrestling background and additional grappling experience from local ADCC competitions. On the feet, there are several things to like. Lee uses a lot of feints, makes good use of his low kicks, and does a solid job cutting the cage. He is comfortable working from the center. His knees are another weapon he uses regularly. However, his success rate with them is fairly low. On the grappling side, his ability to take the back stands out more than his actual ground control. He can find good back-taking opportunities, but once he gets there, he doesn’t always control the position as well as you’d like.
The biggest issue with Lee is that his striking can be pretty damn wild. He tends to overextend and plunge forward, leaving his chin exposed in the process. I also find him relatively easy to read at times. He misses a lot, tends to rely on single shots rather than combinations, and doesn’t really establish much of a jab. He’s not particularly fast either. That makes those moments where he gets overly aggressive even more dangerous. The tools are there, but the execution can get messy.
His MMA wrestling is another area where I’d like to see more development. Lee will sometimes shoot from too far away without properly setting up the takedown. When things aren’t going his way, he can resort to panic wrestling. That could become a much bigger problem against better opposition. Sergeev hurt him badly in Lee’s lone loss, a split decision. There's also a question about how well his game holds up as the fight progresses. That is because he tends to fade as the fight goes on. I’d also like to see him trust his striking more instead of constantly looking for the wrestling when things get uncomfortable.
For me, Lee should stay at middleweight for now. He’s physically suited for the division, and he’s even a bit small for it.
Ultimately, I think Lee is a good prospect by the division’s standards. However, he’s also a prospect I still have some questions about. His last few fights haven’t provided many answers about his development. His most recent fight ended in a sub-20-second knockout, which is obviously a great result. Still, it doesn’t give us much to work with when evaluating improvements. Still, he’s young, and he’s already won two regional belts. The talent is clearly there. With Middleweight being such a shallow division, Lee sits in the upper echelon of Canadian prospects for the big leagues. There are definitely holes in his game. However, the combination of legitimate power, wrestling, and offensive tools gives him a foundation worth investing in.
