Relive all four of Christian Lee’s submission victories in ONE Championship

ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee is a quintessential mixed martial artist who can either knock people out or submit them with relative ease.

After starting his career at featherweight, Lee will jump up to yet another weight class when he challenges Kiamrian Abbasov for the ONE welterweight world title at ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

While he’s yet to capture another submission win since 2018, Lee remains one of the most dangerous grapplers in MMA. He fully displayed his exceptional style when he was still fighting in the 155-pound division.

Lee holds the most number of finishes in ONE Championship at 15, and four of those were submissions.

While we await what kind of finish he could get in his next fight, let’s look back at the four submission wins that played a huge part in creating his legend.

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#4. Christian Lee vs. Mahmoud Mahomed

Christian Lee was just 17 years old when he fought Egypt’s Mahmoud Mahomed at ONE: Clash of Heroes in January 2016 for his second fight in ONE Championship.

Despite his age, Lee showcased a level of creativity that was probably never seen before inside the circle. The teenage star was also aggressive in the early going, knocking down Mahomed with a couple of right straights.

Lee then slapped a Peruvian necktie mere seconds after knocking down Mahomed. The Egyptian fighter, however, managed to escape the hold and get back on his feet.

That proved to be brief, though, with Lee going back on the offensive and slamming down Mahomed to the mat. Lee then grabbed hold of Mahomed’s left shoulder, cranking it tight for the first-round submission win.

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#3. Christian Lee vs. Cary Bullos

Lee was yet to reach adulthood when he faced off against the Philippines’ Cary Bullos at ONE: Ascent to Power in May 2016 for his fourth fight in ONE Championship.

The fight started slowly and Bullos even had a strong start to the contest when he tagged Lee with a crisp left kick to the body. Sensing that he had the momentum in the early going, Bullos rushed in for a right hook.

However, that led to him getting caught in a standing choke that Lee immediately slapped on.

Christian Lee, who now had the match under his control, slowly softened Bullos with some knee strikes before dragging him down to complete the D’Arce choke finish 2:07 into the opening round.

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#2. Christian Lee vs. Keanu Subba

Keanu Subba and Christian Lee had parallels in their careers after having started at almost the same time in ONE Championship. However, their match at ONE: Quest for Greatness in August 2017 displayed the disparity between them.

Now, Subba is a mighty fine martial artist, but what Lee did to him in his hometown of Kuala Lumpur proved just how much of a monster the Singaporean-American would become.

The two young stars went back and forth in the first two rounds of the match but Lee wasted no time imposing his will come the third. After his right roundhouse kick missed, Lee grappled Subba and took him down with an outside leg trip.

Lee then established top position, wherein he locked in a crippling armbar for his third submission win.

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#1. Christian Lee vs. Kazunori Yokota

His most recent submission win might just be his most iconic.

Christian Lee faced Japanese veteran Kazunori Yokota at ONE: Visions of Victory. Itt wasin their March 2018 match where ‘The Warrior’ showcased the patented 'Terminator Guillotine'.

Yokota, a former two-division DEEP champion, seemed to have solved the young star’s puzzle. But Lee, just as he did so many times in his career, showed that he will always find ways to put matches under his control.

Lee used his length to neutralize Yokota and before long, he had the Japanese fighter bending, literally, to his will.

‘The Warrior’ brought the match down to the ground and it wasn’t long before Lee was twisting Yokota in an unorthodox guillotine that would one day be dubbed the 'Terminator Guillotine'.

With no way to escape, Yokota had no choice but to tap 4:34 into the second round.