“It’s time to get back in there” - Christian Lee says training his brother Adrian helped him develop his game further ahead of return

Christian Lee may not have focused much on himself, but he's confident the time he spent training his younger brother Adrian gave him a different perspective in improving his arsenal.

The reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion was Adrian's chief trainer when the younger Lee brother had his first two professional fights this year.

Christian, though, is now back to his natural role as a fighter and will defend the ONE lightweight MMA world title against Alibeg Rasulov in the main event of ONE Fight Night 26 on Dec. 6 at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Christian Lee said he's ready to resume his responsibility as world champion and defend his lightweight throne in Bangkok.

"It's been two years since I last stepped inside the ONE Circle, and I'm excited, I'm ready to go. There's a long time when I was just focused on training my brother, just focused on getting his career started. I trained him up to be so good that I was getting worked by him in the gym, and I told him 'Man, it's time to get back in there.'"

He added:

"From there I was able to find a better training partner for him, and also kickstart my journey back to fighting for a title again."

Christian regained the ONE lightweight MMA world title when he knocked out nemesis Ok Rae Yoon in the second round of their ONE 160 matchup in Singapore.

He then became a two-division world champion when he stopped Kiamrian Abbasov for the vacant ONE welterweight MMA world title at ONE on Prime Video 4.

Christian Lee, however, took a two-year hiatus following the tragic death of his younger sister Victoria in December 2022.

ONE Fight Night 26 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Christian Lee says he needed to take the time off following Victoria's passing

Christian Lee knew his career had to take the backseat after the tragic passing of his younger sister Victoria in 2022.

In an interview with The Brian Campbell Experience, the double-champ said he had to take a step back from his career as he and his family mourned.

Christian added that he temporarily closed Prodigy Training Center after Victoria's passing.

"For me, I just needed some time off and away from everything. I closed my gym down. I wasn't thinking about anything close to fighting. But you know, when I came around, I was able to reopen my gym, open up Prodigy Training Center. Then I was able to get ready to go back to work."

Watch Christian's entire interview below: