Christian Lee comments on Stamp Fairtex’s progression as an MMA fighter

Former ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee knows what it takes to hone one’s skills in MMA. He believes that Stamp Fairtex is on the right track in terms of her progression in the sport.

Stamp started her climb in the ONE women’s atomweight ranks in 2019, announcing her arrival with a third-round submission win over Indian striker Asha Roka. She later used her striking prowess to knock out two of her next three opponents.

In 2021, she joined the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix and showed an even more refined skillset through every round of the tournament. In the final round, she forced Indian wrestling champion Ritu Phogat to tap out to a beautiful armbar.

She thus secured a spot to challenge for the atomweight crown against division queen Angela Lee at ONE X. It was the champion's first match since announcing her pregnancy back in 2020.

Christian Lee studied Stamp to help his sister prepare for the Thai superstar in their world title clash. At ONE X, Lee saw just how far Stamp has come when he witnessed her in action and almost took down his sister.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, ‘The Warrior’ lauded Stamp’s efforts and rise in the division, but believes that she still has a tendency to revert to the style that she is used to.

Lee said:

“It's definitely a hard thing to do. To transition from just one style going into MMA. It's great that she focused a lot on her groundwork to round out her game. And she did really well getting to the top of the division. But, you know, you can still see that divide when you find someone who's stylistic and adds on another style, as opposed to somebody who's trained in mixed martial arts their whole life, as a whole. I thought that was very impressive. Very good, but there's still going to be a difference when it comes to styles. Stylistic fighter versus complete martial artist.”

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Christian Lee gets his rematch with Ok Rae Yoon at ONE 160

Christian Lee will now be busy preparing for his own world title bout, as he gets his much-awaited rematch with Ok Rae Yoon at ONE 160.

ONE Championship revealed that the battle for the ONE lightweight world title will be the headlining bout for the August 26 event in Singapore.

Ok edged out Lee in a tightly-contested match for the world title in September last year. While it was officially a unanimous decision victory for Ok, Lee believed that he did enough to win the match.

After the decision was reviewed and upheld, Lee decided to wait for his rematch with Ok and is now finally getting the opportunity to get the belt back.