ONE Championship has consistently brought blue-chip combat sports prospects to the forefront and Adrian Lee certainly lived up to the billing. The youngest member of the vaunted Lee family made his promotional debut at ONE 167 on June 7, where he faced Antonio Mammarella in a lightweight MMA contest on the undercard.
At 18 years old, 'The Phenom' showcased just how ready he was for the bright lights of the world's largest martial arts promotion as he went to work quickly, landing his shots at will and soon threatened a double submission late in round one.
Mammarella would go on to survive Lee's mind-bending attempt but ultimately fell victim to the Prodigy Training Center product's grappling dominance when Lee cinched in a rear-naked choke to put him away with ease.
Relive Adrian Lee's highly impressive ONE Championship debut below:
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Lee clearly picked up a couple of things from his older brother, trainer, and two-division MMA ONE world champion Christian Lee as his approach to the Mammarella bout looked very similar to how 'The Warrior' fought in his early days.
Adrian Lee grateful for brother and father's guidance ahead of MMA debut
Regardless of how much work a fighter puts in training camp, there is always that sense of nervousness that might linger around, but that was not the case for Lee.
In the post-fight interview with ONE athlete-turned-analyst Mitch Chilson, Lee made sure to give flowers to the family members most involved in his training camp - the aforementioned Christian Lee and his father, Ken Lee.
Adrian Lee stated:
"It's great. I couldn't have done this without my brother and my dad. It all goes to them."
Fans in the United States and Canada can relive all the action from ONE 167 on demand via Prime Video.