Christian Lee unconvinced of Dagi Arslanaliev’s threat to his world title reign

Christian Lee is undoubtedly one of the most exciting fighters in combat sports.

Aside from being well-rounded in all disciplines of MMA, ‘The Warrior’ has one of the best killer instincts in the game, as 15 of his 16 career wins have come by way of knockout and submission. Dagi Arslanaliev, however, stands as the lone blemish on his near-perfect career finishing rate.

While the ONE lightweight world champion still got his hand raised when he faced the tough Turkish lightweight back in ONE: Century Part 1 in 2019, he was unable to put him away after three rounds.

It was a first for the Singaporean-American superstar, who practically ran roughshod over the opposition on his way to becoming a two-time divisional king. In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, Christian Lee claimed that he would have certainly finished Dagi in their fight if only he was given ample time to prepare.

After all, the United MMA standout only agreed to fill in for the injured Eddie Alvarez just to save the Lightweight Grand Prix finale.

Lee shared:

“Dagi is a very tough competitor. He’s a finisher like me. But, going into that [Grand Prix Championship Final] in Tokyo, I took the fight on less than ten days’ notice. I basically just signed the contract and hopped right onto the plane for the fight with not much training. If I had a full fight camp, I definitely would have finished him that night. And if we ever face again, I feel that I will finish him.”

Christian Lee recently got his gold strap back following a vengeful win against ex-world champion Ok Rae Yoon last month.

Dagi, who ranks No.2 in the division, is now in a position for a rematch against Lee for the world title. The 27-year-old fighter is coming off his 2021 ONE MMA Fight of the Year win, where he viciously knocked out Timofey Nastyukhin.

Lee, though, is not sold on Arslanaliev’s No.1 contender status, given his inactivity since their first encounter.

He added:

“He’s another talented, dangerous fighter. But maybe one more fight for him would get him a title shot, too. He’s had one fight back – an impressive win over Timofey [Nastyukhin] – but he hasn’t been too active. Maybe you put [him against Izagakhmaev], and the winner of that will be ready for the title shot.”

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Dagi Arslanaliev ends fights quickly like Christian Lee

Dagi Arslanaliev is also not a fan of leaving the fight in the judges’ hands.

The Corvos Combat product was a decorated Wushu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner before fully transitioning to MMA. Arslanaliev is a dual threat, possessing an incredible grappling acumen and frightening destructive power in his hands.

Six of his nine career wins have come by way of first-round finishes, including swift victories over former world title challengers Ev Ting and Amir Khan. It remains unclear if Dagi Arslanaliev will be next in line for Christian Lee, but he’ll certainly be ready if the call comes.