Christian Lee says opportunity for welterweight belt "just too big of a moment" to pass on

ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee is not the type to rest on his laurels and is always looking for new challenges ahead.

After reclaiming his gold strap against Ok Rae Yoon at ONE 160 – in devastating fashion, no less – no one would fault him if he decided to sit out the remainder of the year. Lee could have simply taken a break and fought again inside the circle in 2023.

However, the itch to conquer new obstacles and reach new heights was just too hard to pass up for the 24-year-old MMA superstar.

ONE Championship presented ‘The Warrior’ with a chance for two-division supremacy, as he is set to lock horns with ONE welterweight king Kiamrian Abbasov in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18 (US primetime) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

After leaving his last match-up practically unscathed against Ok this past August, the Singaporean-American decided he was due for a quick turnaround. He told ONE Championship in an exclusive interview:

“Well, initially, after claiming my title back, it sounded really nice to take some time off. But an opportunity like this is really just too big of a moment to let it just pass me by. And fighting for a second world title, and a second weight division has always been a dream of mine since I started this sport.”

Christian Lee, who has 16 career wins inside the circle, has had his fair share of incredible moments throughout his already storied career. The United MMA and Evolve MMA standout has highlight-reel-worthy wins over Shinya Aoki, Dagi Arslanaliev, and Timofey Nastyukhin, among others.

Nevertheless, a win against the bigger Kiamrian Abbasov will no doubt be the biggest feather in his cap.

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Christian Lee promises to deliver exciting fight for the fans versus Kiamrian Abbasov

While strapping two shiny world titles on his shoulders would be a dream come true for Christian Lee, he knows he’ll be in for the toughest fight of his life against Kiamrian Abbasov.

‘Brazen’, after all, took over the 185-pound ranks after dominating previous world titleholder Zebaztian Kadestam. He even pulled off a stunning comeback win against James Nakashima in his first world title defense.

Relive Abbasov's incredible fight against Nakashima below:

Like Christian Lee, Abbasov is a known finisher, with 11 of his 23 career wins coming by knockout or submission.

In the same interview, the lightweight king said his fight with the Kyrgyzstani will not go the distance:

“I think they chose a good fight to headline this card. Because Abbasov is an extremely talented fighter. I know that when he goes out there, he’s always looking to finish his fights. And when I go there, I’m looking to finish my fights. So regardless of the outcome, I know it’s going to be an exciting fight for the fans.”