“Allowing myself to naturally” - Christian Lee says ‘keeping speed’ was main focus in move to welterweight 

Christian Lee has dominated the ONE lightweight division for years, capturing the lightweight world championship on two separate occasions. ‘The Warrior’ now looks to take over a new division when he moves up to welterweight, challenging the division’s reigning king, Kiamrian Abbasov.

Typically when moving up a weight class, fighters sacrifice size, stamina, or speed. Sometimes all three. Unwilling to compromise, Christian Lee decided to slowly move his body into welterweight shape without sacrificing the tools that made him the most prolific finisher in ONE Championship history.

During an appearance on the MMA Junkie Podcast, ‘The Warrior’ detailed his preparations for the champion vs. champion showdown on November 18th:

“My main focus was on keeping my speed, of course, allowing myself to naturally float up to the weight class limit. But just trying to be faster than ever, stronger than ever. Continuing to work on my cardio so that I was able to have a good gas tank. And that's the same thing I'm doing for this fight camp.”

With a 94% finish rate and 15 career wins by way of stoppage, Lee’s speed and strength have been difficult for anyone to compete with. At ONE on Prime Video 4, we will see if ‘The Warrior’ can keep those two very important pieces of the puzzle in a division full of behemoths.

The event is live and free to North American audiences with a Prime Video subscription.

Watch the fight below:

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Christian Lee couldn’t pass up the chance to become a two-division champion

After delivering an incredibly dominant performance at ONE 160 on August 26th to recapture the ONE lightweight world championship against Ok Rae Yoon, Christian Lee was looking forward to taking some time away from the Circle to enjoy his victory. Then the promotion presented him with an opportunity he just couldn’t pass up.

ONE Championship offered ‘The Warrior’ a chance to join a very short list of two-division world champions, taking on dangerous welterweight titleholder Kiamrian Abbasov. Lee didn’t think twice. In an exclusive interview with ONE, Lee said:

“Well, initially, after claiming my title back, it sounded really nice to take some time off. But an opportunity like this is really just too big of a moment to let it just pass me by. And fighting for a second world title, and a second weight division has always been a dream of mine since I started this sport.”