Christian Lee’s mentality heading into Kiamrian Abbasov fight – “I always look at myself as the underdog” 

Reigning ONE lightweight champion Christian Lee is heading into his world title match against Kiamrian Abbasov with a strong and winning mindset on November 18.

‘The Warrior’ is undeterred while making the final preparations for this week’s highly-anticipated showdown at ONE on Prime Video 4. The event will be broadcast live and for free to North American audiences with a Prime Video subscription.

Coming up from his natural weight class [lightweight to welterweight] to challenge Abbasov for his belt, people are doubtful of Lee becoming a double champion.

Speaking to MMA Junkie, Lee explained that being considered the underdog only adds more fuel to his fire:

“I always look at myself as the underdog, as the challenger. And I always feel like I need to be working harder. So I'm never going to be satisfied with my performance until I've hung up my gloves and I'm done fighting.”

Back in 2019, Lee made a similar transition from a lower weight class when he challenged newly-crowned ONE lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki at ONE: Enter the Dragon.

Previously at featherweight, ‘The Warrior’ had experienced some setbacks. He fell to former featherweight king Martin Nguyen twice and Team Lakay veteran Edward Kelly by disqualification.

The odds were stacked against him from the start against Aoki. However, Lee pulled off the unthinkable with a come-from-behind TKO victory after having survived a deep armbar in the first round.

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Christian Lee is excited for friends and family to watch him live on US Prime Time

Christian Lee is stoked to be debuting and headlining at ONE on Prime Video 4. The event is live and free with a Prime Video subscription.

His sister Angela Lee headlined the second installment of events on Amazon Prime Video. Unfortunately, she lost via unanimous decision to Xiong Jing Nan for the ONE women’s strawweight world title at ONE on Prime Video 2 this October.

Stoked for his chance to lead the main event this Friday, Christian Lee couldn’t hide the significance and impact it will have on US audiences back home. He told MMA Underground:

“I’m glad that all my friends and family back home, all my students at my gym, I can just tell them you know, turn the TV on, go on Amazon, 6 o’clock PM is around the time it’ll be on here in Hawaii which is perfect.”

Catch the clip at the 4:10 mark below: