WATCH: Christian Lee claims lightweight crown with savage ground and pound against MMA legend Shinya Aoki
In May 2019, Christian Lee achieved his dream of becoming a ONE world champion for the very first time.
The MMA prodigy had previously competed for the featherweight title but 2019 saw him move up a weight class in his career.
Now competing at lightweight, he challenged MMA legend, veteran, and pioneer Shinya Aoki for the lightweight crown at ONE: Enter The Dragon.
The first round saw Aoki land his takedown and use his grappling to keep the fight on the floor like many expected he would.
However, in the second round, the fight was flipped on its head following a barrage of strikes from the challenger.
The rising 20-year-old stand-out rocked the ONE mainstay with a shot and as his opponent backed up into the corner of the ring, he followed after him and started to let his hands go to capitalize on this opening.
Several unanswered shots forced the referee to step in, declaring Lee as the new lightweight world champion and beginning the start of a new era.
Watch the full fight below:
This fight showed the incredible heart of Christian Lee
If there's one word that comes to mind when describing the championship reign of Christian Lee, it's heart.
Lee's ability to recover from a difficult opening round and make the most of his opportunity in the second round tells you all you need to know about what he is like as a fighter.
That same heart saw him reclaim the title in dominant fashion following a shock loss to Ok Rae Yoon and led him to become a two-weight world champion in one of the best fights in ONE Championship history against Kiamrian Abbasov.
Christian Lee is yet to return to competition as of yet following the tragic passing of his younger sister Victoria but you can be sure that when he does, we'll get the same exact Lee that has made him such a fan favorite over the years.