“Many people thought I was going to lose” - Christian Lee addresses his detractors

In September 2021, Christian Lee lost to Ok Rae Yoon in a controversial decision loss. Not only did he have to deal with a world title loss, but he also had to endure the critics who practically told him he wasn’t good enough.

Lee, though, eventually got to silence the naysayers when he obliterated Ok to regain the ONE lightweight world title in the main event of ONE 160 this past August.

During his post-fight press conference, Lee admitted that he was aware of how part of the viewing public saw that he deserved the loss to Ok at ONE: Revolution. Nevertheless, he used those criticisms as fuel to send Ok to the shadow realm in their highly-anticipated rematch.

Lee stressed that what he showed in his world title rematch against the South Korean was a testament to how hard he worked in the months between the two matches.

Christian Lee said:

“No, I don't have any messages for anyone who doubted me. I'm sure there are many people that thought I was going to win, many people that thought I was going to lose. But at the end of the day, the hard work, the work that you put in, is what ends up showing in the Circle. So this win was just really a show of all the work that I put in leading up to it.”

Ok secured a close unanimous decision win over Lee to become the ONE lightweight world champion in their first meeting, but his reign proved short-lived when “The Warrior” quickly reclaimed the gold he once lost.

In an absolute display of martial arts mastery, Lee pummeled Ok like there’s no tomorrow eventually forcing the referee to stop the contest just one minute into the second round. The win not only started Christian Lee’s second reign atop the lightweight division, but also bolstered his legendary status in the sport.

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Christian Lee corrected his mistakes in the rematch with Ok Rae Yoon

Christian Lee knew that he made one crucial mistake that led to his loss to Ok in 2021. Talking to Mitch Chilson right after his bout, Lee said that he came into his first fight against Ok with the wrong mindset.

Lee pointed out that he wanted to rush things during his initial encounter with Ok and this led him down a frustrating path that he never recovered from.

“The biggest mistake I made in the previous fight is when I get into the circle, I just want to fight. And so I calmed it down a little bit. We laid out a game plan, I stuck to it, I just tried my best to take my shots. Take what was there, not rush anything. And the finish happened on its own."