“I was feeling it” - Adrian Lee recalls how he dealt with the dreaded Colorado altitude in his second professional fight

Rising MMA star Adrian Lee experienced firsthand the dreaded Colorado altitude that so many athletes talk about. He said it was not easy, but he was happy and proud to have overcome it.

Colorado was the venue of 'The Phenom's' second match in ONE Championship back in September. He took on hometown bet Nico Cornejo in a lightweight MMA showdown at ONE 168: Denver.

19-year-old Lee went on to win the contest with an opening-round submission (rear-naked choke) of Cornejo to make it two straight wins for him since making his promotional debut in June last year.

In a feature on his YouTube channel where he shares his ONE Championship journey, Adrian Lee recounted his experience with the Colorado attitude and how he was able to overcome it.

The Prodigy Training Center affiliate said:

"I had my second fight in ONE Championship against Nico Cornejo in Colorado. And that fight was at a high altitude. So, what we had to do is we had to fly out two weeks ahead so that I could get acclimated to the altitude because it was a lot different from Hawaii and people always talk about if it's a myth or not, but it's really not."

He added:

"When I got up there, I was feeling it. My lungs, my cardio, everything wasn’t good. But by the time the fight came around, my cardio felt great. I felt amazing. And I had an amazing first-round finish with another rear naked choke."

Check out what he had to say below:

Making the victory and the struggles in Colorado all the more worth it for Adrian Lee was that he was rewarded with a $50,000 performance bonus by ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong for his impressive showing.

Adrian Lee looks back on first amateur win with a lot of pride

Like his first experience with the Colorado altitude, Adrian Lee looks back at his first amateur victory with a lot of pride and excitement.

It took place when he was just four years old in Canada. He was just there to accompany his siblings who were competing but eventually wound up plunging into action and winning.

"I first started training when I was 3 years old, and I had my first MMA competition at 4 years old. I wasn't actually supposed to even have a match, but my siblings, they went up to the Internationals in Canada, and I really wanted to have a match," he shared.

He continued:

"So, luckily, they found an older kid who was around my size who didn't have an opponent, so I ended up fighting him. I won the match by points. So proud of that."

Lee is the latest member of his family to compete in ONE Championship after former atomweight queen and now-retired Angela, double world champion Christian, and late fighter Victoria.