“I know how skillful and how crafty Shinya can be” - Christian Lee says Shinya Aoki may submit Saygid Izagakhmaev

ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee is split on who will come away victorious between Shinya Aoki and Saygid Izagakhmaev. The two dangerous lightweight fighters are booked for a faceoff at ONE 163.

The Singaporean-American Lee, who will be fighting at ONE on Prime 4, has fighting experience against the Japanese MMA veteran. 'The Warrior' understands how skillful the former ONE lightweight king is.

While speaking to ONE Championship in an interview, Lee explained:

“I think that if you just look at the fight on paper, you see that Shinya's kind of no longer the champion. He's ageing. You see that Saygid is this dominant wrestler. I think it would seem that he's just going to dominate Shinya. But I know how skillful and how crafty Shinya can be in the circle, and I could see him coming away with a submission off of this fight.”

Shinya Aoki has achieved legendary status in MMA and holds a black belt in both judo and jiu-jitsu. Saygid Izagakhmaev is a powerful Russian athlete and trains under the tutelage of Khabib Nurmagomedov. With a win, Izagakhmaev may be next in line to challenge for Lee's lightweight throne. The two fighters will face off at ONE 163 on November 19.

'The Warrior' concluded:

“I'm not going to say 100% that's my pick. I could see it going either way. But I think that either Shinya submits him or it's going to be Saygid winning a decision.”

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Christian Lee has a challenging fight on the horizon

While the lightweight king Christian Lee is eyeing future contenders for his world title, he has a major challenge ahead of him. 'The Warrior' will be looking to capture the welterweight throne, thereby making history as a two-division champion, at ONE on Prime 4 on November 19.

All the action on the stacked card will be broadcast live, for free on Amazon's streaming platform for all its subscribers.

Standing in the way of Christian Lee accomplishing his double-championship dreams is the ONE welterweight world champion 'Brazen' Kiamrian Abbasov. The Russian-born welterweight king recently sent a warning to his upcoming challenger. While speaking in an interview with ONE, 'Brazen' explained:

“Christian is a good opponent. He is a good, explosive fighter, but I know his weaknesses and I am not a guy from his division – the rules are different here.”

Abbasov added that Lee's bravery will be tested;

“But if [Christian Lee] feels brave enough to wrestle then I can take him to deep waters, and we will see who has more oxygen.”