Christian Lee Stepping Up Again for Unexpected ONE Championship Bout

ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee returns to the cage to take on Saygid "Dagi" Arslanaliev in the lightweight world grand prix final on Oct. 12 at ONE: Century in Tokyo. In the United States, you can watch his match on Part I of the Century card the night of Oct. 12 on TNT and B/R Live and Part II of the card the morning of Oct. 13 on B/R Live.

It was originally supposed to be a training exercise for the cameras. While about a dozen media personnel circled around the training mat in the United MMA gym in Waipahu, Hawaii, to take photos and video, Christian Lee engaged in pad work with one of his coaches. It was only meant to be a seven-minute workout.

"Let's keep going," Lee said.

Despite his coaches telling the 21-year-old ONE lightweight world champion his media duties were done, Lee was insistent.

"I know," he said. "I want to do a few more minutes."

And that was before he knew he had a bout in the next month.

The workhorse, originally set to face the winner of the lightweight world grand prix between Saygid "Dagi" Arslanaliev and former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez later next year, is now preparing for an Oct. 12 match against Arslanaliev in which he had less than three weeks' notice due to Alvarez pulling out with an injury. 

As has been the case throughout his young career, Lee won't back down from any challenge that comes his way regardless of how little time he gets to prepare for it. Clearly, Lee's love for the sport introduced to him at an incredibly young age hasn't withered. 

Before he became world champion, Christian Lee was a three-year-old beginning his mixed martial arts training with sister and now fellow ONE titleholder, Angela. As they've grown up, Lee told Bleacher Report he better appreciates training at such a young age because it paid off in the long run for a raw 17-year-old who made his professional MMA debut on the ONE Championship stage in 2015.

What gave him an edge was the mental toughness he molded during his childhood.

"At the time, I was still in high school," Lee said. "I would go to school and come back for my fights. I never really felt too much pressure, though. Of course there are going to be emotions going into such a big promotion like ONE, but I always went in with the mindset of a champion. I believed since the start I was a champion, that I was the best in the world. That mindset actually helped take a lot of the pressure off because I was never really chasing that goal. I felt like I was already there."

That approach paid off early on as Lee got off to a 5-0 start at ONE before he even turned 18. It wasn't just that he was winning, though, but the dominant fashion the Warrior won in. All five matches were first-round finishes, each being stopped by punches, kimura lock, ground-and-pound, anaconda choke and strikes, respectively.

In six months, a teenager became the talk of ONE Championship.

When he's not competing, Lee is a coach at United MMA and a lead instructor for adult and child classes. As winner of five world titles at the 2013 Amateur Wrestling World Championships and the tournament's Most Outstanding Athlete award, he understands the importance of laying the foundation for others at a young age. 

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"It's cliche, but kids are the future of our sport," the Canadian-born Lee said. "It's important to teach them early on about respect and determination so they carry it with them as they grow up. We're not teaching these kids just how to fight, and we're not teaching them to be bullies."

Bruno Pucci, a fellow ONE athlete and coach at United MMA, calls Christian the most mature 21-year-old he's ever seen.

"He's beyond his years," said Pucci, who is married to Angela. "One thing I can say about him is he's always willing to help. Even if he has a fight coming up, he takes his time to help me or Angela. He's younger than us, but he teaches us so much."

After that 5-0 start, the inexperienced Lee was taught a lesson by Martin Nguyen, an eventual two-division champion at ONE, in August 2016. Despite Nguyen's notoriety as one of the more dangerous competitors in the promotion, Lee attempted to go punch-for-punch with him. It didn't go well, as the Situ-Asian returned a strong right hand from Lee in the first round with an even stronger left that dropped the then-18-year-old and allowed Nguyen to find a guillotine choke for the win.

In previous matches, Lee completely overwhelmed his opponents with offense. Patience wasn't needed to pick up wins. The realization that a steady hand is crucial for any top-tier fighter was vital for Lee despite the wunderkind's first loss.

Lee went on to win his next four bouts by knockout or submission. The Warrior's reward was a rematch with Nguyen, this time for the ONE featherweight world championship and a chance to redeem his lone defeat with a much different approach.

Nguyen didn't have it so easy against a now-composed, even-tempered Lee the second time around in May 2018. Biding his time, Lee attempted fewer strikes than he normally would but was much more effective at keeping the defending champion from landing major shots himself. After five standstill rounds, the match went to a judges' decision for the first time in Lee's career.

He kept his hand raised during the announcement in belief that his performance was enough to earn his first ONE title.

"Judge No. 1 scores this bout in favor of Nguyen," ONE ring announcer Dominic Lau declared to the crowd in Singapore.

"Judge No. 2 scores this bout in favor of Lee.

"And judge No. 3 calls this bout in favor of your winner by split decision...and still ONE featherweight world champion, Martin Nguyen!"

It wasn't meant to be for Lee that night, but a much improved effort against one of the best ONE competitors ever sent a strong statement to fans that he wasn't just a flash in the pan. Christian Lee had champion potential.

Last May, he earned another title shot after two more first-round finishes, this time for Japanese legend Shinya Aoki's lightweight belt. The submission specialist was 43-8 entering the match and by far Lee's most experienced opponent.

The first round almost ended in another quick defeat for Lee, who had no answer to Aoki's grappling. It appeared Aoki would successfully defend his belt after he got the 20-year-old challenger in a deep armbar early in the match, but Lee managed to wiggle free and escape the opening round with no further consequences.

"I think the adversity I faced with him the first round was a test of how bad I wanted it," Lee said. "The second round is when my training really came into play."

Despite Aoki's attempts in the second round, Lee refused to allow the fight to get back on the canvas. Instead, Lee found the opening he was looking for and landed a heavy left, wobbling the 36-year-old. He landed another punch...and another...and another. After an array of strikes reigned down on Aoki, referee Olivier Coste stopped the fight.

Lee sprinted to his corner in excitement as the youngest male champion at a major organization in MMA history. He no longer had to visualize being a champion like he did at the start of his career. He was one.

"I've trained my whole life to be the lightweight champion," Lee said while reflecting on his win. "I've trained thousands and thousands of hours just for that one moment."

Angela Lee couldn't hold back the emotion while watching her brother be crowned a champion.

"I was at a loss for words," Angela said. "I was so happy for Christian because at that moment, I thought 'This is what we've worked toward.' We were just kids when we talked about being the first brother/sister world champions. Even when we were amateurs, we had that vision. At that moment, everything fell into place."

Christian Lee faces his first test as champion Oct. 12 at ONE: Century against Arslanaliev in a non-title match to be crowned the world grand prix champion. Although given less than three weeks' notice, Lee is excited to face one of the fastest rising stars at ONE in Arslanaliev, calling him a "hungry killer" eager for a massive win against the division's champion that would almost certainly result in a title shot.