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Reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight world champion Christian Lee has been following Ken Lee’s advice since he was a little boy. The trust and loyalty that he has for his old man has paid off big time, as ‘The Warrior’ kept his father’s instructions to heart to become a two-division ONE world champion.
The 24-year-old etched his name into the record books after handing Kiamrian Abbasov his first career TKO loss in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 4 last week.
Christian Lee’s road to greatness was certainly not easy. In fact, it appeared as though the Singaporean-American would be returning to the lightweight division empty-handed after the hard-hitting Kyrgyzstani-Russian nearly knocked him out in the first round. A dazed Lee went into survival mode early on after absorbing what could have easily been fight-ending shots from ‘Brazen’.
However, the United MMA and Evolve MMA superstar weathered the vicious storm and came back with a vengeance in the ensuing rounds. He turned the tide by out grappling the Greco-Roman wrestler and punishing him with some brutal ground and pound. After asserting his grappling dominance over Abbasov, Christian Lee found himself in full mount in round four and seemed like he was setting up an arm-triangle choke.
However, ‘The Warrior’ had a change of heart and continued to rain down a barrage of punches that ultimately forced the referee to intervene and stop the beating.
According to Lee, he only listened to his father’s advice to bail on the submission and go for the ground and pound instead. Lee revealed this in his ONE on Prime Video 4 post-fight interview:
“My corner consists of my dad, my brother Adrian, and Shakur. I couldn't tell you [what my corner told me]. The fight's a blur and it literally just happened. But I can tell you that a very pivotal moment in the fight happened in the fourth round when the finish was there. I was looking for the arm triangle, as you can see if you play the fight back, I heard my dad yell to abandon it and to go for the finish. That's what I did. And the finish happened. I have the best corner in the world.”
Christian Lee says his strong support system made it possible to become a champ-champ
Christian Lee is on his own once the circle door closes, but he has his entire family watching his back every step of the way. The Lee family was again in full force for arguably the greatest night of his MMA career.
Apart from Ken Lee, his mother Jewelz Lee also cheered her lungs out alongside Christian’s sister and fellow ONE world champion Angela Lee and her daughter Ava. His brother-in-law Bruno Pucci came with him as well since he also fought at ONE 163.
Christian Lee’s wife, Katie, and daughter, Alia, were in attendance as well to give him that much-needed inspiration. And of course, there’s his youngest brother Adrian who graciously carried his heavy world championship belts post-match.
In the same interview, Lee thanked his strong support system for making this feat possible:
“I wouldn’t be anywhere without the support system I have around me. I’m so grateful.”
Watch Christian Lee’s full post-fight interview below:
