“I’m always open to new challenges” - Christian Lee reveals why he wants matchup with Kiamrian Abbasov

Christian Lee delivered arguably the best performance of his mixed martial arts career in the main event of ONE 160. Nearly a year in the making, ‘The Warrior’ stepped back into the Circle in a bid to recapture the ONE lightweight world championship he controversially lost to South Korean striker Ok Rae Yoon.

Running back their ONE: Revolution match-up, Lee was nothing short of dominant, putting away Ok Rae Yoon at 1:00 of the second round via knockout to reclaim the lightweight world title. Now that Lee has accomplished his goal of taking back the lightweight crown, ‘The Warrior’ is looking ahead to the next challenge. Namely, a showdown with the promotion’s welterweight king Kiamrian Abbasov.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Christian Lee was asked why he is targeting a welterweight meeting with Abbasov following his lightweight world title win in August:

“I think he’s very skilled, but I think my style lines up well with his style. I think that I’m faster, I think that I’m a better striker, I’m a better grappler, and you know I would love to test myself against the champion one division up."

Lee continued:

“For me, I’m always open to new challenges and I think that Kiamrian Abbasov would absolutely be the toughest fight of my career and I would love to test myself that way.”

Catch the full interview here:

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Christian Lee is open to fighting Eddie Alvarez

Once again the lightweight world champion, Christian Lee is looking ahead for potential challengers. While the champ would like to test his skills against welterweight champion Kiamrian Abbasov, ‘The Warrior’ recognizes that he has a responsibility to defend his own world title.

Discussing potential challengers with ONE Championship, Lee brought up ‘The Underground King’ Eddie Alvarez. A multi-time world champion, Alvarez has had a bit of a rough go since joining ONE Championship in 2019. It’s been more than a year since we saw him in action, but Lee believes that one or two solid wins could help get Alvarez lined up for a world title showdown:

“[Alvarez is] a veteran of the sport. He’s claimed titles in other organizations. He’s done a lot for the sport. So I would definitely like to make that fight happen. But, like I said, I really believe in the ranking system. I would love to see him work his way up to the top five and then make that fight happen right away.”