“He’s still in the mix” - Christian Lee would welcome a rematch against Dagi Arslanaliev

ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee will face his toughest challenge to date at ONE on Prime Video 4. The event is live and free for North American fans with a Prime Video subscription.

'The Warrior' will move up to welterweight to challenge its reigning king, Kiamrian Abbasov, for the belt. If he wins the world title, this will make Lee the king of two weight classes, with a wealth of contenders eagerly waiting to get their shot at him.

One such contender is Lee's former foe at lightweight, Saygid Guseyn 'Dagi' Arslanaliev. Christian Lee is the only person to ever truly beat the dangerous Dagestani. Since losing to 'The Warrior', Arslanaliev has bounced back with a FOTY-winning performance by knocking out Timofey Nastyukhin in an absolute classic last year,

In an interview with SCMP MMA, 'The Warrior' addressed a possible rematch with 'Dagi' in the future:

"He’s still in the mix. Of course, I’ve seen him at the top 1 and no.2 spot in the contenders for the rankings. He’s a very dangerous opponent but the thing is, he hasn’t been active. He hasn’t been actively fighting."

This is true. 'Dagi' has only fought once since losing to Lee. SInce his win over Arslanaliev, however, Christian Lee has since defended his world title twice, lost it, and then regained it in spectacular fashion. When it comes to activity, 'The Warrior' has it over 'Dagi' in spades.

Watch the full interview here:

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Christian Lee still believes Dagi Arslanaliev is still one of the top guys at lightweight, despite inactivity

Despite 'Dagi' Arslanaliev's perceived inactivity, Christian Lee still gives him credit and sees him as one of the top guys in his division. Just by looking at the Dagestani's latest performance inside the Circle, it's easy to see why the ONE lightweight world champion thinks so.

'The Warrior' said:

"I definitely think that he’s still one of the top guys in the lightweight division. It could be just one more big fight in the division before he gets another title shot. He’s definitely on my radar."

Arslanaliev gave the performance of a lifetime when he rematched Timofey Nastyukhin last year at ONE: Winter Warriors. The back-and-forth brawl saw both fighters leave everything on the line to the amazement of the viewing crowd. Despite being at the very tailend of the calendar year, the bout was a no-brainer for ONE's Fight of the Year for 2021, beating all the other fights of the past 12 months. If he wins another bout in such spectacular fashion, 'Dagi' might just get a world title shot next.

Watch the full fight here: