“We’ll see what his plans are” - Christian Lee willing to accept a challenge from Eddie Alvarez
After recapturing the ONE lightweight world championship in the main event of ONE 160 in August, Christian Lee is already looking ahead to his next potential opponent.
There are a number of possibilities for ‘The Warrior’ following his dominant win over Ok Rae Yoon to become a two-time world champion. No. 5-ranked lightweight Saygid Izagakhmaev is scheduled to face Zhang Lipeng at ONE 161 on September 29. Should Izagakhmaev win, he could find himself in prime position for a shot at Lee’s gold.
Also on the list is four-time MMA world champion ‘The Underground King’ Eddie Alvarez. We haven’t seen Alvarez in the ONE circle since April 2021 when he lost to former ONE world champion Ok Rae Yoon. Despite his recent woes, Alvarez could find himself within reach of a world title opportunity.
Discussing potential opponents with the South China Morning Post, Christian Lee is more than open to the possibility of facing Eddie Alvarez:
“Eddie’s a fight I would definitely love to take. I haven’t seen him fight [for a while now]. His last fight was against Ok, but I would definitely make that match happen before he hangs his gloves up. I think he’s an amazing competitor, he’s accomplished so much in his MMA career and if he wants to get that shot I would love to give it to him. I haven’t really heard much about him coming back to the circle again so we’ll see what his plans are but I’ll definitely be open to that fight.”
Watch Lee's top knockouts below:
Christian Lee on a potential rematch with Dagi Arslanaliev
No. 2-ranked lightweight Dagi Arslanaliev has won five of his last six bouts inside the circle. The lone loss came against reigning lightweight world champion Christian Lee when the two met at ONE: Century Part 1 in 2019. While Arslanaliev came up short in their one and only meeting, the Turkish fighter was the only one to avoid being finished by ‘The Warrior’ inside the circle.
After getting back into the win column with a third-round knockout of Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE: Winter Warriors, a potential rematch with Lee with ONE gold on the line could be in their future. Christian Lee says that Arslanaliev is tough, but has no doubt that he will finish him should their paths cross again:
“Dagi is a very tough competitor. He’s a finisher like me. But, going into that [Grand Prix Championship Final] in Tokyo, I took the fight on less than 10 days’ notice. I basically just signed the contract and hopped right onto the plane for the fight with not much training. If I had a full fight camp, I definitely would have finished him that night. And if we ever face [off] again, I feel that I will finish him.”
Watch highlights of Eddie Alvarez's fights in 2021: