Christian Lee believes he still beat Ok Rae Yoon despite “one of the worst performances” he’s ever had

Christian Lee believes he should still be the ONE lightweight world champion, and many within the MMA community agree with him. The last time we saw ‘The Warrior’ in action, it was at ONE: Revolution in September. He put his lightweight crown on the line against South Korean usurper Ok Rae Yoon.

After 25 minutes of action, both fighters were wearing damage, but Lee was convinced he had done more than enough to retain his ONE gold. Unfortunately, the judges saw it differently, awarding the bout and the world title to Ok unanimously. Flabbergasted by the result, Lee immediately called “bullsh*t” and requested a formal review of the decision.

ONE Championship’s competition committee obliged but ultimately decided to uphold the decision in favor of Ok Rae Yoon. With both fighters having something to prove, they’ll step into the main event of ONE 160 on August 26 to decide once and for all who the lightweight world champion truly is.

Former world titleholder Christian Lee spoke with South China Morning Post about the first bout and was very frank regarding his performance that night.

“I feel like, you know, that was really one of the worst performances I could have had, and I still beat him on that night. So that's how I feel about it.”

---

Christian Lee says he's made significant improvements since his ONE: Revolution bout with Ok Rae Yoon

Christian Lee followed up on his comments by saying that he has been working hard to make the necessary improvements for the impending rematch with the newly crowned world champion:

“Yeah, you know, for me, I've never once in my career felt satisfied with where I'm at. I've never stopped trying to improve. So I've been working hard trying to improve my striking, trying to improve my wrestling, trying to improve my jiu-jitsu. So really every area of the game, I'm working to improve. And I think, just overall, in my next fight, there's going to be a big improvement in every area. And, you know, I'm just going to be a lot sharper than I was in that last fight.”

In a prior interview with SCMP, ‘The Warrior’ was critical of Ok Rae Yoon’s fighting style, accusing the South Korean of playing defense until the end of the round in order to steal frames in the eyes of the judges.

While ONE Championship does not score fights on a 10-point must system like North American promotions, ramping up offense in the closing moments can certainly leave a good impression on the judges.

“Well, you know, I feel that Ok Rae Yoon, his biggest strength is the fact that he carries such as a defensive posture. He just stays right at the end of your punches. And he really likes to play that defensive game, running around the whole time. And then at the very end of the fight, he likes to turn it on.”

Catch the full interview below:

Going into the rematch, Christian Lee intends to beat Ok at his own game.

“You know in that rematch it's going to, I think everyone's going to see, it's going to be a very different fight. I'm not going to chase him, I'm going to just stand there, give him exactly what he wants. And I'm going to beat him at his own game.”