Chatri Sityodtong says Christian Lee will return but it will take more time

ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has spoken to reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight world champion, Christian ‘The Warrior’ Lee, and the Singaporean-American star told the promotion he does indeed plan on returning.

Lee stepped away from competition following the tragic death of his younger sister, Victoria Lee, late last December. The Lee household has been in shambles since and Christian, along with reigning ONE women’s atomweight world champion ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee, have not even stepped foot on the mats.

Sityodtong revealed in a recent interview with South China Morning Post that he has spoken to the famous Lee siblings of ONE Championship, and that Christian has indeed expressed interest in resuming his career, although it will take more time.

The Thai-Japanese entrepreneur said:

“Christian, right away said, no, I'm 100% coming back. I just need more time. He hasn't trained at all. Ken has retired as a coach, completely. The family is still going through a grieving and healing process, and it's going to take time.”

Indeed, dealing with such a terrible ordeal is difficult, to say the least, and the Lee family deserves all the time in the world to go through the grieving process as everyone handles it differently.

Nevertheless, fans are excited to see both Christian and Angela back in action at the soonest possible time.

Meanwhile, ONE Championship returns this Friday night with another massive offering.

ONE Friday Fights 22 features two major world title showdowns as the ONE interim strawweight Muay Thai world title will be decided between Prajanchai PK Saenchai and former king Sam-A Gaiyanghadao.

Also, reigning ONE heavyweight world champion ‘Singh’ Arjan Bhullar goes head-to-head with ONE interim heavyweight titleholder ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin in a highly anticipated world title unification bout.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live and for free via ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel and other digital platforms.