“There’s no going back” - Adrian Lee admits he felt immense pressure when he made his professional MMA debut with ONE

Adrian Lee had seen his older siblings do it before, but he never expected that the sheer atmosphere of entering the cage for the first time would be a life-altering moment.

The youngest of the famed Lee siblings, Adrian will have the third fight of his young professional career when he takes on Shozo Isojima in a lightweight MMA match at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the historic Saitama Super Arena.

In an interview with Story of the Fight, the teenage sensation recalled his transition from the amateur ranks to ONE Championship's global stage.

Adrian has always watched when his older siblings dominate the scene, and he admitted that he felt immense pressure when he debuted against fellow young star Antonio Mammarella.

"I definitely felt the pressure, like, all the expectations. Once you go pro, there's no going back. For me, there has never been going back. There's no giving up, there's no outs," said Adrian Lee.

The 18-year-old grew up in a martial arts home with his parents, Ken and Jewelz, and older siblings Angela, Christian, and Victoria.

As natural as a younger brother would, Adrian grew closer to Christian and even cornered the ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion on several occasions.

Adrian ultimately followed in his siblings' footsteps and joined ONE Championship at ONE 167 in June 2024. Despite the nerves, Adrian pulled off a spectacular debut and submitted Mammarella with a rear-naked choke in the second round.

He made it 2-0 in September 2024 when he submitted Nico Cornejo with the same submission hold at ONE 168: Denver. Adrian now looks to take three consecutive victories when he faces off against Isojima in Japan.

ONE 172 is available live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.

Watch Adrian's entire interview below:

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Kade Ruotolo eyes possible matchup against Adrian Lee

Adrian Lee has slowly made a name for himself in ONE Championship, and one of the reigning world champions is already looking at a potential matchup against him.

Kade Ruotolo, the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, is 3-0 in his MMA pursuit and believes a match against Adrian would be a possible banger in the future.

"Absolutely. I think that's a super interesting matchup. I think, obviously, we're the same weight, two up-and-comers. So I think that's one that a lot of people are going to want to see," said Ruotolo in an interview with Bangkok Post.