There were three clear moments I came close to finishing him - Christian Lee looks back on Ok Rae Yoon fight

Christian Lee stands firm in his belief that he beat Ok Rae Yoon when they first met in the Circle a few months ago, despite how the scorecards were read after five grueling rounds.

The 23-year-old from Hawaii dropped a close but controversial unanimous decision to the South Korean at ONE: Revolution last September. However, given ONE Championship's scoring criteria, Lee’s body of work across 25 minutes of action should have been enough to earn him the nod.

The biggest scoring category in ONE is the near-finish. In a recent interview with the promotion, Christian Lee said he came close to finishing Ok on three separate occasions.

“In my fight with Ok, there were three moments, three clear moments, I feel that I came close to finishing him. And for me, I'm a finisher. When I go into fights, my number one goal is to finish my opponent as quickly as possible.”

The first instance, Lee explained, was a rear-naked choke in the second round. After taking Ok’s back, Lee quickly secured the hold, and the arm appeared under the neck. But Ok was able to shake him off. The second instance, Lee connected with a right hand in the third round, dropping Ok and hurting him. Lee praised Ok’s tough chin for being able to survive. Lastly, Lee nearly completed a D’Arce choke late in the fight.

“So for me, having those three moments I look back, and I just think how I can make my game tighter, how I can finish him on the first attempt, the next time we fight. And so everything I'm doing is just just to stay sharp, to stay ready. And I know that when I get the rematch and when I square off in the cage with Ok again, I'm going to be a much different fighter than I was the last time we faced.”

---

Christian Lee vs. Ok Rae Yoon: What happens in the rematch

Christian Lee is determined to get Ok back in the Circle with him. The South Korean is still on the mend after their all-out war. ‘The Warrior’ is content to wait, and says there’s no other fight he’s interested in.

“When I go back, and I play the fight between me and OK [Rae Yoon], I still see that I won that fight. In every area, I won that fight, you know, on all the scorecards. But you know, for me, as a fighter, I'm always looking to improve. So I'm trying my best to add new skills to my game, trying to stay sharp. And really, I'm just, I'm waiting for my opponent to be ready to fight. And when that happens, then we'll be squaring off again.”

Christian Lee also promises a finish in the rematch:

“I feel that I won the fight the last time. A lot of fighters, they would just go in and bring the same game plan. But for me, I want to make sure that the result is absolute. So when I go in there, I'm going to change up the game plan slightly. And I think Ok is going to play the same game that he played. He's going to try to play the perimeter, he's going to try to play the point game and ride out another five round decision. So for me, I'm just going to not allow him to play his defensive game and I'm going to put the pressure on him and make Ok stand and fight with me.”