Christian Lee MMA: FREE FULL FIGHT: Christian Lee climbs the summit in stunning finish of Japanese legend Shinya Aoki for first piece of ONE gold

Singaporean-American MMA megastar Christian Lee will never forget May 17, 2019, as that was when he claimed his first ONE world championship in a stunning performance at ONE: Enter the Dragon.

Logging back-to-back first-round TKO finishes in his previous two outings, Lee earned the right to challenge then-reigning ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki.

The challenger attempted to outgrapple 'Tobikan Judan' to start the bout. However, the Japanese legend made him pay for it throughout the opening round by landing some stiff ground-and-pound strikes. Lee attempted a hip escape, but Aoki snuffed it and countered with a nasty armbar that he somehow survived.

Less than a minute into the second round, however, Lee wobbled Aoki with a two-punch combination. He swarmed Aoki as he slumped in the corner, forcing referee Olivier Coste to stop the bout.

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Rewatch the entire fight below, which ONE posted on YouTube:

After successful defenses against Iuri Lapicus and Timofey Nastyukhin, Lee lost the gold in a controversial unanimous decision defeat to Ok Rae Yoon in September 2021.

Lee regained the crown in their August 2022 rematch owing to a vicious second-round TKO. Later that November, he added the then-vacant ONE welterweight MMA world championship with a fourth-round stoppage of former 185-pound MMA king Kiamrian Abbasov.

Christian Lee is prepared to defend his gold against anybody

Two-sport division MMA world champion Christian Lee fears no man, and he is ready to see who will be his first challenger for 26 pounds of welterweight MMA gold.

He recently told the South China Morning Post:

"When I look at the welterweight division right now, I think Zebaztian Kadestam is definitely a worthy opponent. He just knocked out Roberto Soldic, he's a former champion. But we'll see what ONE Championship says, what they throw at me, and I'll be training for everybody."

Watch the entire interview below:

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard