Ok Rae Yoon says he didn’t give his best against Christian Lee

Former ONE lightweight champion Ok Rae Yoon recognizes that he didn’t deliver his best performance against Christian Lee last year.

The South Korean standout shocked the world with his fairly controversial unanimous decision victory over Christian Lee to capture the ONE lightweight world title at ONE: Revolution. Determined to prove that his win was deserved, Ok Rae Yoon agreed to run it back with Christian Lee nearly a year later at ONE 160.

Unfortunately, things did not go his way. Ok suffered a second-round knockout, handing 26 pounds of ONE gold back to the previous owner. In an interview with ONE Championship, the Team Mad product recognized that it was not his best showing and acknowledged that he needs to take better care of himself in order to compete with the best fighters in the world.

“The higher the level, the more I need to take care of my body,” Ok said. “Before that, I competed at a level where even if you were in poor physical condition, you could cover it with your skills. But that night, I felt that even a tiny [detail] was crucial when competing with the best in the world.”

Ok Rae Yoon will attempt to get back into the win column on May 5 when he meets America’s Lowen Tynanes. 11-1 in his mixed martial arts career, Tynanes has continued to look impressive after more than a decade of competing under the ONE Championship banner. If he can score a win over Ok Rae Yoon at ONE Fight Night 10, it will undoubtedly be the biggest win of his career thus far.

It would also skyrocket Lowen Tynanes to the top of the lightweight division rankings, setting the stage for a potential ONE world title opportunity.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers can catch ONE Fight Night 10 live and for free in U.S. primetime on May 5.