At just 20 years of age, Christian Lee owns a compendium of impressive performances. He has proven time and again why he is one of the top contenders for the ONE Championship featherweight title.
In his most recent match last November at ONE: Heart of the Lion, Lee was able to secure a scintillating finish over Japanese veteran Kazuki Tokudome just a little over the first three minutes of the bout. He unleashed a barrage of elbows and punches on the former Pancrase Lightweight Champion before the referee intervened and stopped the match.
After he had won, “The Warrior” climbed up the cage and celebrated with his team as he added yet another victory to his highlight reel.
It was a great way to end 2018 for the Singaporean, despite dropping two bouts earlier in the year.
First, he failed to outperform reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen, losing by split-decision last May 2018 at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams. Later on, he was disqualified at ONE: Beyond the Horizon when he hit opponent Edward Kelly with an unfortunate illegal suplex.
Lee then made sure his victory over Tokudome would give him a head start to 2019.
“I’m planning to carry this momentum from 2018 into the next year,” he said recently. “2019 will be the year I touch gold, starting with the ONE Featherweight World Title.”
Christian Lee prepares for his matches with a holistic approach when it comes to his training.
Not only does he train and improve his entire skill set, he also painstakingly studies various footage of his opponents to analyze different situations and come up with a sound game plan.
“As a complete martial artist who focuses on every aspect of the game, 2019 will be full of more exciting finishes including TKOs, KOs, and submissions,” he says.
Lee believes that just another win could open the doors to another shot at Nguyen’s ONE Featherweight World Title. And he doesn’t plan on stopping there. Lee says he also aims to move up to lightweight when he’s done claiming the featherweight strap.
“My immediate goal is to win the ONE Featherweight World Title,” he explains. “From there, I plan to move up to lightweight and take over the division, winning the belt there as well.”
But before he can achieve the lofty goals he has set for himself, Lee needs to take care of business against Team Lakay’s Kelly once again at ONE: Eternal Glory. The two martial artists get a do-over match in Jakarta, Indonesia on 19 January after their first bout ended in controversy.
As the first ONE event of 2019 draws near, Christian Lee looks to make his mark early on. How do you think the Singaporean wunderkind will do this year?
By: Dan Paulo Errazo
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/8/2019.