At 20 years old, Christian Lee is already one of the premier fighters in the ONE Championship organization. ONE Championship was founded in July 2011 and has grown in popularity since. “The Warrior” Lee is 9-2 in his very young professional career but both losses are to the “champ champ”, lightweight and featherweight champion Martin Nguyen.
Finding Martial Arts at a Very Young Age
“I started training in martial arts at the age of four under my parents who were both martial arts instructors, so I grew up in the arts,” Lee told MMASucka. “As I grew older I began competing in competitions working my way up the ranks and eventually took to MMA.”
Lee is absolutely part of a fighting family. His sister, Angela Lee, is the 9-0 ONE Championship atomweight champion. Lee completed in his professional debut for ONE Championship at 17 years old. He took on David Meak and one by first-round TKO. The Vancouver born Lee travels all over the world in pursuit of continuing to improve his craft. “I credit my development as a fighter 100% to my dad who has coached me through life and fighting my entire life,” Lee stated to MMASucka.
The Rise of ONE Championship
ONE Championship has always been popular with die-hard MMA fans. Now the organization is becoming known to a more casual fanbase. ONE Championship, according to their website, is the number one sports media property in Asia broadcasted in 138 countries. The organization also has their own downloadable app where you can watch all the events for free.
They also have an astounding list of sponsors such as Disney, LG, Sony, and Facebook among many others. Fighters such as Brandon Vera (heavyweight champion) and Ben Askren has made huge names for themselves overseas in One. “Since starting out with ONE in 2015 I have been blessed to be a part of their meteoric rise in the MMA community and it is an honor to be a part of such a great organization,” Lee stated to MMASucka.
Sharing the Headline with His Sister
Back on May 18, 2018, ONE Championship: Unstoppable Dreams took place in Singapore. The main event featured Angela Lee defending her title against Mei Yamaguchi. The co-main event featured Christian Lee attempting to dethrone the double champion, Martin Nguyen for his featherweight title. Angela defended her title while Christian fell just short, losing by split decision.
“It is always an amazing experience fighting on the same card as my sister,” Lee stated. “We were really gunning to make history in Singapore at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams, but Angela did a great job defending her belt and I know that I will come back and win my belt as well.”
The Bright Future of Christian Lee
Lee nearly avenged his only professional lose to Nguyen but fell just short. In their first contest, Nguyen won by first-round submission, submitting the 18-year-old at the time with a guillotine. Since that loss, Lee went 4-0 with four finishes.
The journey toward the title restarts for Lee on September 08, 2018. “I will be back in action September 8th in Shanghai China fighting Edward Kelly from the Phillippines,” Lee informed MMASucka.
“This will be an exciting match and you don’t want to miss it. Tune in to the ONE Championship mobile app to catch it live!” Kelly is 4-2 in his last six bouts with three of those coming by knockout. It is very possible we see a brother/sister combination holding championships for a major organization in the very near future. Lee is still extremely young in the fight world and has time to improve before his rematch for the title.
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