Two-division ONE MMA World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee finally has a date scheduled for his long-awaited return.
One of the promotion’s best pound-for-pound fighters across all sports, Lee defends his ONE Lightweight MMA World Title against Alibeg Rasulov at ONE 169: Atlanta on November 9.
Lee is coming out of a nearly two-year, self-imposed hiatus following the tragic passing of his sister Victoria Lee in 2022.
“The Warrior” took time away to focus on his young family, stepping back from the demanding career that is professional fighting.
But he always said that he’d come back to hold down his throne, and his return coincides with ONE Championship’s groundbreaking event in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lee returns to the ONE Circle having won eight of his last nine bouts, which include victories over former ONE Welterweight MMA World Champion Kiamrian Abbasov and Ok Rae Yoon and Shinya Aoki at lightweight.
He holds the ONE record for the most number of wins at 17. Also, 16 of those victories come from finishes – also a promotional record.
While he was away, Rasulov proved himself to be the rightful man to welcome him back to ONE.
Rasulov entered the promotion with an immaculate 13-0 record, bringing his in-your-face rugged style of clinching and dirty boxing to ONE.
This was highlighted in his debut, where he took on Lee’s rival and former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Ok, beating the South Korean via unanimous decision earlier this month.
The Turkish powerhouse could’ve snagged gold in his debut as it was originally for the ONE Interim Lightweight MMA World Title. Rasulov, however, didn’t meet the deadline for his weigh-in and hydration test, though he did eventually make the limit.
