Christian Lee wants to be the first ONE Championship fighter to main event in the United States.
New father, Christian Lee, is one of the darlings of the Asian-based MMA promotion, ONE Championship, and while he’s proud to be that, he’s also eager to fight in his home … the United States. The promotion has discussed for years it’s desire to head to the States and recently told FanSided they were in the country looking for a location for an upcoming card.
And Lee wants to be on that card … if and when that happens of course.
“I’d definitely like to be a frontrunner for ONE Championship in the U.S. Wherever it is in the U.S., I’d like to be the first fighter in ONE to have a main event in the U.S,” he told FanSided.
Who against might be a bigger question.
Ok Rae Yoon and Thanh Le are two names being discussed for Christian Lee
Lee seems keen to fight Ok Rae Yoon who defeated former UFC champion, Eddie Alvarez in April.
“Right now, I still want to continue defending my lightweight title,” he said. “If you look at the top-five, there’s only one guy I haven’t fought yet: Ok Rae Yoon. I think he’s done a great job in his last two appearances, and he’s earned himself a shot.”
Another name that’s been tossed out is featherweight champion, Thanh Le, though Lee isn’t as interested in that fight just yet.
“He just won the featherweight belt, and he did it in impressive fashion,” Lee said. “But he hasn’t defended his belt yet. I think he’s got a few more fights left before he can move up and challenge for my belt.”
ONE Championship returns to live events on July 30 when it hosts ONE: Battleground from Singapore, the first live event in months. Lee’s younger sister, Victoria, will be making her promotional debut.
ONE: Battleground takes place on Friday, July 30, live from Singapore. Follow along with FanSided for all your live news and highlights.