“That is what I like to do” - Kiamrian Abbasov wants to strike with Christian Lee but won’t mind wrestling with him

At ONE on Prime Video 4, welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov will return to his weight class to defend his title against Christian Lee. ‘Brazen’ will face the lightweight world champion, who will be looking to achieve double-champion status at the event.

This will be Abbasov’s second title defense since winning the world championship in 2019. In between defenses, the welterweight world champion strived for his own champ-champ dream but came up short against Reinier de Ridder.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Kiamrian Abbasov spoke about his willingness to see where his opponent wants to take the fight, confident that he will beat Christian Lee wherever the fight plays out:

“As you know, I prefer not to rely only on my wrestling. If he will feel like trading punches, he is welcome. That is what we like to do. But if he feels brave enough to wrestle then I can take him to deep waters, and we will see who has more oxygen.”

Abbasov will be a huge test for Christian Lee as 'The Warrior' steps into the circle for the biggest fight of his career to date. Lee won his lightweight world championship back just three months ago with a great performance against Ok Rae Yoon in their rematch.

Stopping his opponent in the second round, Lee then turned his attention to the welterweight division and the chance to add his name to a very exclusive group of simultaneous two-weight world champions.

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“I feel like it’s a good time” - Christian Lee says it’s the perfect moment for him to gun for a second world title

‘The Warrior’ Christian Lee believes that now is the perfect time for him to challenge for double-champion status. At ONE on Prime Video 4, the lightweight world champion will move up to welterweight to face Kiamrian Abbasov for his world title.

After winning back his lightweight championship in August via a second-round finish of Ok Rae Yoon in their rematch, Lee targeted a quick return to the circle.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, the 24-year-old spoke about why he wants the fight with such a quick turnaround:

"I already claimed the lightweight title, now I feel like it’s a good time, having defended my belt in the lightweight division quite a few times. With the welterweight division kind of like being on hold for the last few years, we’ve only seen one title defense from Abbasov in the last two years."

After Lee avenged his controversial loss to Ok Rae Yoon, the lightweight and welterweight divisions were both left without a clear contender. Whilst the two champions clash, it gives both divisions time to develop and produce new challengers.

Christian Lee added:

"I feel like it’s kind of a good time where the lightweight division is a little bit on hold and the welterweight division as well. So I think the time lined up to make this fight happen."

See the full interview below: