Christian Lee suggests younger bro Adrian could unseat him from two-division supremacy in ‘two more years’
Christian Lee teases the possibility of his younger brother, Adrian Lee, becoming a two-division MMA world champion in the next two years.
At ONE 168: Denver, Adrian dominated Nico Cornejo to secure a first-round submission win (rear-naked choke). The 18-year-old was awarded a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong and extended his professional MMA record to 2-0 following his debut in June.
'The Phenom' fights at lightweight where his older brother, Christian, is the world champion. At 26 years old, Christian has plenty of time left to dominate as a two-division king, but he thinks Adrian is on track to take over both of his world titles.
Following ONE 168: Denver, Christian and Adrian joined the media backstage for a quick media scrum. 'The Warrior' had this to say about his younger brother continuing to evolve at a rapid pace:
"He's gotten so much better than the last two years. Two more years, he could be the next double champ, taking my spot."
Adrian Lee was one of six fighters to earn a $50,000 performance bonus for securing impressive wins inside the distance.
For those who missed the entertaining event, ONE 168: Denver can be rewatched by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Watch Adrian and Christian Lee talk to the media at ONE 168 below:
Christian Lee scheduled for highly-anticipated return at ONE 169: Atlanta
Christian Lee's last fight was a fourth-round TKO win against Kiamrian Abbasov to become the ONE welterweight champion in November 2022.
'The Warrior' endured time off to recover from the tragic passing of his younger sister, Victoria Lee, but never considered retiring from MMA.
On Nov. 8, Lee will make his highly-anticipated return when the promotion travels to Atlanta, Georgia for ONE 169. The 26-year-old is scheduled to defend his welterweight throne against Alibeg Rasulov, who impressed fans with a win against Ok Rae Yoon in his promotional debut earlier this year.
Rasulov holds an undefeated professional MMA record of 14-0 and now looks for the biggest win of his fighting career. It'll be intriguing to see if the Turkish 31-year-old can pull off the upset and spoil Lee's return.