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Last year, we took a crack at ranking the top U.S.-based competitors at ONE Championship. After an intriguing 2020 that saw stars continue to emerge, we’re back to revise our original ranking…
Last year, we took a crack at ranking the top U.S.-based competitors at ONE Championship. After an intriguing 2020 that saw stars continue to emerge, we’re back to revise our original ranking…
ONE Championship lightweight titleholder Christian Lee is confident he would beat the 155lb champion in the UFC, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and any other elite level lightweight fighter. Lee has looked sensational as of late. The 22-year-old has won five straight fights. In 2019 he stopped Shinya Aoki to become the youngest male world champion in MMA history. […]
ONE Championship lightweight titleholder Christian Lee is confident he would beat the 155lb champion in the UFC, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and any other elite level lightweight fighter.
Lee has looked sensational as of late. The 22-year-old has won five straight fights. In 2019 he stopped Shinya Aoki to become the youngest male world champion in MMA history. Since then he has picked up a unanimous decision win over Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev before he stopped Iuri Lapicus inside one round to defend his lightweight crown in October.
In an interview with MMA Mania, Lee declared himself the best 155lb fighter on the planet. The youngster noted the other organizations that boast top-level talent but insisted he would beat them all, he said.
“I believe I’m at the top. Of course there are many other organizations out there and many great fighters, but I believe in my skill set and I’m confident that if I go up against anyone I’m gonna come out on top.”
Lee even fancies his chances at current UFC pound-for-pound number one Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Khabib and if he is indeed retiring, there is no point in talking about a fight,” Lee said. “But I do feel like I have the skill set to beat him. Everyone who’s fought him in the past, they are good fighters, but predominantly strikers and weren’t ready to deal with his grappling and jiu-jitsu.”
“Khabib’s previous opponents just didn’t have enough depth in their ground game,” Lee continued. “With my wrestling and jiu-jitsu background, I feel that I would be more than capable of giving him a great fight and getting my hand raised.”
Former UFC and Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez is the standout name in ONE Championships lightweight division but Lee insists ‘The Underground King’ has work to do before they face off.
“I knew once Eddie joined the promotion that it was a fight I was going to have to take,” Lee said. “I do think he needs one or two more wins before we can make that happen, to get that title shot, but I’m looking forward to three title defences next year, I plan to stay busy.”
Do you think Christian Lee is the best lightweight in MMA?
ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix is this Friday, Oct. 30, and it features four title bouts between some of their top fighters. Headlining the event is middleweight world champion Aung La N Sang taking on undefeated Reinier de Ridder…
ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix is this Friday, Oct. 30, and it features four title bouts between some of their top fighters. Headlining the event is middleweight world champion Aung La N Sang taking on undefeated Reinier de Ridder…
ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix is this Friday, Oct. 30, and it’s the biggest card of the year so far for the Singapore-based promotion featuring four title bouts among some of their most prominent fighters…
ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix is this Friday, Oct. 30, and it’s the biggest card of the year so far for the Singapore-based promotion featuring four title bouts among some of their most prominent fighters…
ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee has not given up on his dream of capturing featherweight gold, despite his success at lightweight. Lee had a banner year in 2019. In May, the 21-year-old stopped Japanese veteran Shynia Aoki to claim the lightweight strap, before adding another belt to his collection five months later after defeating Dagestan’s […]
ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee has not given up on his dream of capturing featherweight gold, despite his success at lightweight.
Lee had a banner year in 2019. In May, the 21-year-old stopped Japanese veteran Shynia Aoki to claim the lightweight strap, before adding another belt to his collection five months later after defeating Dagestan’s Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev to become the promotions inaugural lightweight Grand Prix Champion. However, Lee still feels he has unfinished business at featherweight. A division currently ruled over by the one man to have gotten the best of Lee, Martin Nguyen.
“For me, featherweight is where I started my career, and I don’t feel like it is right to leave that division before claiming that belt, ” Lee said, speaking to LowKickMMA.
” I definitely plan on winning that featherweight belt before I move on, but the fight I want is with Martin Nguyen. He has dominated that division; he has taken out everyone in his path so far. He has done a great job of it, so that is the fight I want. I see him staying champ for quite a while longer, so I think that we will see a fight between the two us within the near future.”
The pair have fought twice before with Nguyen, emerging the winner on both occasions. The last time they met was in 2018 in Singapore at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams, with Nguyen, getting his hand raised via a split decision victory. The fight was more a slow burn than the attacking extravaganza fans had anticipated. Still, Lee sees a third meeting between the pair being the polar opposite of their last outing.
“I see the fight playing out completely different than that second time we met in the cage,” Lee explained.
“The reason that fight was so close is because I went in there with no sparring. The whole eight weeks of that camp, I wasn’t able to spar a single time because, in a previous fight against Kazunori Yokota, I broke my thumb. They [ONE] offered me the fight while I was in a cast. They said, ‘you got a featherweight title shot do you want to take it?’ so as a young kid, I was excited I took the shot.
“So when I went in the cage, I was in the best shape of my life, but I didn’t have my timing my range I didn’t have all of these things that are essential in preparing for a world title match. That’s why my game was so different, that’s why it ended up such an underwhelming performance, and so I am very disappointed with the outcome of that match.
“I know that both of us as fighters were going in there to finish each other. I think it is only right to make things right, and we take another match and finish it right this time.”
Lee and Nguyen both have title defenses scheduled for their next bouts, so depending on when ONE returns a third meeting between the pair would be unlikely to happen until 2021. The Singapore-based promotion is still unable to hold events, leaving its fighters playing a waiting game regarding when they will be able to compete. Lee may be unsure as to when ONE will be back, but he predicts some major fight announcements once the show starts again.
“The way ONE Championship works they like to do it big, and so I am sure that whenever we start up again it’s going to be a string of huge world title fights, super fights and it’s going to be exciting. “
Who would you pick between if Lee and Nguyen fought for a third time?
The gas tank is full; the tools are sharp. What ONE Lightweight Champion Christian Lee needs now is a date, location, and opponent. ONE Championship is still waiting for the green light to return, but when it does get the all-clear, expect to see Lee back in the mix ASAP. Based out of Hawaii, Lee […]
The gas tank is full; the tools are sharp. What ONE Lightweight Champion Christian Lee needs now is a date, location, and opponent. ONE Championship is still waiting for the green light to return, but when it does get the all-clear, expect to see Lee back in the mix ASAP.
Based out of Hawaii, Lee is fortunate enough to be surrounded by both his coach and gym partners, meaning when it comes to training, he hasn’t missed a beat during this period of global lockdown.
“Thankfully, my whole team consists of my family. I got my dad here coaching me, Angela [Lee] and Bruno [Pucci] are here in the gym every day with me. So between our family alone, we got a good mix of people so we can continue building our skills but also continue staying in the best shape possible,” Lee said, speaking to LowKickMMA.
“If everything clears up and they wanted me to fight right now. I would be ready.”
The 21-year-old had a breakout year in 2019, overcoming Japanese veteran Shinya Aoki to capture the lightweight strap in May before beating Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev in Japan five months later to add the inaugural ONE Lightweight Grand Prix Championship to his trophy cabinet.
Lee took the fight against Arslanaliev on short notice after Eddie Alveraz pulled out of the bout due to an injury. Arslanaliev came into with just one defeat on his record— a technical DQ loss— and on the back of three first-round KO victories. The hard-hitting Dagestani is rightfully regarded as one of the most dangerous lightweights in the division, which makes Lee’s unanimous decision win look even more impressive.
“That was one of my favorite fights, not only how the fight played out, it being for the first-ever Grand Prix title, but just the fact I had literally ten days to prepare,” Lee said.
“I was going out there, joining my sister fighting in Tokyo for the first time. Everything about that trip was very special to me. I am grateful that the hard work I put in ahead of time was able to carry over with me.”
Since arriving at ONE in 2015, it always seemed a matter of when and not if Lee would claim his first title. However, as he points out, nothing is ever guaranteed when it comes to mixed martial arts, no matter how skilled a fighter is.
“For me, winning the title, I just feel very grateful. A lot of very good talented fighters will go their whole career and never touch gold once. And they definitely deserve it, they definitely have the skills, but under the circumstances, they were just not able to touch gold. Donald Cerrone is a famous example, a great fighter that has never been able to touch it. “
Winning a title and defending it come under two different categories. First in line for a shot at Lee’s belt is likely to be Moldova’s Iuri Lapicus. A grappler by trade, Lapicus has found a home training under one of the world’s top strikers Giorgio Petrosyan in Milan, Italy.
Lee has been impressed with what he has seen so far from Lapicus, who secured the No. 1 lightweight ranking following back to back submission wins over Shannon Wiratchai and Marat Gafurov.
“I think he is definitely well deserving of it. He is undefeated; he probably has the best record in the division so far just by being undefeated. I think he is going to be a very good challenge.”
Lee has always looked to a be fighter who relishes a challenge. He demonstrated that in 2019 and now he is waiting for that call to prove it all again in 2020.
Are you excited about seeing Christian Lee back in action again?