“It’s gonna come down to either Dagi or Saygid” - Christian Lee names the toughest challengers in the lightweight division

ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee knows there’s a big target on his back and is mindful of all the threats in his division.

While every 170-pound fighter in the promotion wants to have a go at his newly won gold strap, ‘The Warrior’ acknowledged two contenders as the biggest threats to his reign. As far as Lee is concerned, Dagi Arslanaliev and Saygid Izagakhmaev, who are ranked second and fifth in the lightweight rankings respectively, are two fearsome Russian fighters to keep an eye on.

Christian Lee confirmed this in an interview with Tom Taylor on SCMP MMA’s Youtube page:

“I think right now it’s gonna come down to either Dagi or Saygid. I think right now, they’re the two toughest guys in the division. I fought Dagi already once before, Saygid I haven’t fought yet. I see them as the top two contenders that are gonna work their way up to the top so most likely gonna be one of them.”

Watch Christian Lee’s full statement below:

It’s not hard to see why Lee thinks Arslanaliev and Izagakhmaev are worthy challengers. After all, both are coming off impressive wins in their previous outings.

Arslanaliev made his case for a rematch with Lee after he violently disposed of Timofey Nastyukhin late last year. The Turkish-Russian sensation traded bombs with his Russian contemporary in an epic slugfest before unloading a couple of haymakers that ended the fight in round three.

Izagakhmaev, on the other hand, lived up to the massive hype with his beatdown of James Nakashima last January. Khabib Nurmagomedov’s understudy had a smashing ONE debut when he brutalized ‘Nako’ on the ground and submitted him with a brabo choke.

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Christian Lee wants Dagi Arslanaliev vs. Saygid Izagakhmaev in a world title eliminator

Christian Lee is in no rush to defend his world title since there really isn’t a clear-cut No.1 contender at the moment.

He had already beaten Dagi Arslanaliev by unanimous decision at ONE: Century Part 1 in 2019. Plus, the United MMA star isn’t impressed by his former foe’s inactivity, considering he has only fought once since their fateful encounter.

The same goes for Saygid Izagakhmaev, who only has one fight to show for inside the Circle. While the Russian grappler already has 20 wins in his MMA career, he is yet to face anyone from the division's top 5.

Lee, however, was quick to point out a simple yet obvious solution. Why not pit these two amazing fighters against each other for the right to take on the divisional king?

‘The Warrior’ shared:

“I could definitely see that happening and I think that would make a great fight and definitely determine the No.1 contender.”

For now, nothing is set in stone in terms of the world champion’s next challenger, but a clash between Arslanaliev and Izagakhmaev could help clear things up.