Christian Lee has accomplished a lot in his ONE Championship career. The all-time leader in finishes will get a chance to add to his legacy by becoming a double champion at ONE on Prime Video 4 when he meets Kiamrian Abbasov for the ONE Welterweight World Championship on Friday, November 18. The current lightweight king will be attempting to gain control of a second division as part of his natural maturation process.
Abbasov tried the feat by moving up to the middleweight division, but he was stopped by Reinier De Ridder. However, Lee puts little stock in the size difference. Having begun his career at 145 pounds, he believes he has a good understanding of the process of adding to compete in the next division. And for him, the time is now to make a move at welterweight.
“In the beginning, I feel that I was a bit small for the division, being used to fighting at 155 and then making the move to 170. But now, I feel like I’m in a really good size for the lightweight division. It definitely feels like my natural division right now. But moving up to welterweight, I’m just going to take the same approach that I did when I moved up from featherweight to lightweight. I’m not focused on my size. I’m not focused on how big or small I’m going to be in that division. I’m just going to go in there in the best shape possible and take a shot at the title. And then when I claim the title, that’s when I take the time to fully make the switch and adjust my weight and adjust my training to be comfortable fighting at 185,” explained Lee.
Noting that Abbasov is a well-rounded athlete, Lee is sure the title tilt will be a gruelling battle inside the Circle. Lee is not taking the matchup lightly as if he can quickly dispatch “Brazen.” The strength and aggression of the Kyrgyz-Russian will test the United MMA star early. That is where his cardio can come into play.
“The Warrior” plans on entering the Circle in the same peak physical condition that he did at ONE 160 when he defeated Ok Rae Yoon. His experience in moving weight divisions has given him more insight into how not to sacrifice his cardio when adding more weight. The management of his cardio is part of the game plan to wear down Abbasov during their championship battle.
Christian Lee reclaimed the ONE Championship lightweight title, while Tang Kai captured the promotion's featherweight title at #ONE160 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/RLbt8Ow1P2
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) August 26, 2022
“I think it’s easy to make the mistake when you’re moving up a weight division, to just simply put on the size, to put on the extra weight, and then to neglect the cardio. Because now you don’t need to do the same amount of cardio that you had to do to cut your division to your natural division. By going into this fight, I took some time to put on extra weight so that when I did step up the training and when I did start doing my cardio, I would be able to be in the same shape I was fighting for the lightweight title as I’m going to be for the welterweight title,” said Lee.
Lee suggested he would finish the bout in the third round via submission but wants fans to be alert before then. He does not expect this one to make it to the judges. The event, which airs free in the United States and Canada to all Amazon Prime subscribers, is an opportunity for two outstanding finishers to leave it all in the Circle, according to Lee.
“I’m excited to be headlining my first event on Amazon Prime. I think they chose a good fight to headline this card. Because Abbasov is an extremely talented fighter, I know that when he goes out there, he’s always looking to finish his fights. And when I go there, I’m looking to finish my fights. So regardless of the outcome, I know it’s going to be an exciting fight for the fans. And at the end of the day, this is the fight business. Our goal is to put on exciting fights for the fans, and I don’t think that this one is going to disappoint,” said Lee.
ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs. Lee airs live and free on Friday, November 18, at 8 p.m. ET/5 a.m. PT. Tickets for the event are on sale now at Ticketmaster.
