MMA phenomChristian Lee returns to pro fighting Wednesday against Timofey Nastyukhin.- The
One Championship lightweight titleholder defends his belt in an event on US cable network TNT. - Lee wants to win, fight Eddie Alvarez, clear out the division, then do the same at welterweight.
MMA phenom Christian Lee is dreaming of clearing out One Championship's lightweight division, beating Eddie Alvarez, and then moving to welterweight so he can shoot for double champ status.
"I'd love to move up to welterweight and get a crack at that belt," the 22-year-old told Insider ahead of his 170-pound title defense against Timofey Nastyukhin on Wednesday.
The fight tops the second of a four-event run for One Championship on US cable network TNT this month.
One founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong told Insider last year that he has high hopes for Lee, and is so confident in the young champion's skillset that he'd even tip him to beat Khabib Nurmagomedov in a cross-promotion bout.
The way Lee talks, it seems like his hopes are as high as Sityodtong's as he said he's determined to secure a finish against Nastyukhin, target the best opponents in One Championship, and then do it all again at 185-pounds.
Winning a championship aged 20
Leading into Lee's first title fight in 2019, which was little more than three years after signing a One Championship contract, the fast-rising athlete said he always knew he was going to beat Shinya Aoki and make history.
Victory over Aoki, the champion at the time, saw Lee become the youngest titleholder in the history of the Singapore-based company.
The bout got off to a poor start for Lee as Aoki took him down and took control of his arm, but Lee didn't panic. "I still knew I wasn't giving up," he said.
"The second round was a second chance to implement my strategy, and I was able to do so and eventually get the knockout. I really felt like I was going to win that fight all along, even though I was in a bad position early on."
Lee had his extended family there - grandparents included - and they all joined him to celebrate.
"My grandparents said they were so proud," he said of that night. "It was really cute to see how much my grandparents have learned about MMA because of my sister [atomweight champion Angela Lee], and my whole family and I.
"They watching fights these days, watching interviews, and trying to understand the whole process. They do love it and they're so supportive of the process, of me, my family, our careers.
"After that, I stayed in Singapore for a week, took a trip to Thailand to celebrate with my wife, and then we went back home [Hawaii]. The whole gym was happy, all students, friends. [Celebrations] just went on for weeks."
Growing up in a house full of fighters
Hand-to-hand combat runs deep in the Lee family.
Lee's father Ken, a Hawaii-based Singaporean, holds black belts in Brazilian jiu jitsu, pankration, and taekwondo. His mother, Jewelz, is also a taekwondo black belt.
The Lee parents practiced martial arts with their children every day when the kids returned home from school, and it saw the oldest, Angela Lee, quickly become a champion in One. Christian's success shortly followed.
"Looking back, I'm grateful I was pushed so hard by my parents," Christian said.
"We would go to school, come back right away and we'd be training from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. and then fit in homework after that.
"It was busy, but I'm grateful I had that hard work instilled in me from a young age. It built a strong foundation for my character going into a fight career."
It begs the question of whether sibling arguments ever turned into fights.
Lee laughed, but said: "We did argue from time to time … but we would not get too physical. We were very close from a young age.
"For the most part we trained so much that if we got home and argued, the last thing we'd want was to do even more fighting!
"We do still train together. Whenever I'm in camp or she's in camp we're always helping each other out, drilling and rolling."
Lee wants a quick finish Wednesday against Nastyukhin
Christian hasn't trained with his sister for a while because she's taken time away from the sport to become a mom.
Angela announced her pregnancy in October 2020, and then gave birth last month - adding potentially another fighter to the growing family dynasty.
Even without his sister around, Lee said he's still been training as hard as ever, and will be looking to meet fire with fire come fight night.
"I've been watching my opponent for quite some time now," he said of Nastyukhin. "I know he's a talented striker and he really pushes the fight early on, constantly looking for the knockout.
"I know he's dangerous, but the way I'm training and the game-plan I have laid out for this specific opponent, I know it's going to be a good fight for me.
"I plan on commanding range, striking first, and then from there, looking for a takedown, getting a TKO there or on the feet - by knockout or even submission."
Victory would add another signature win to a body of work that already includes wins over Aoki, the former champ, and Saygid "Dagi" Arslanaliev, who was the No.1 contender.
With Nastyukhin being the next in line, a matchup involving Eddie Alvarez is something Lee would push for later in the year.
"I would love to see a fight with him in the future because he's won the Bellator belt and he's won the UFC title.
"It would be a big fight to broaden the audience for One Championship, as he would bring in fans from the US with him."
He continued: "I want to clear out the lightweight division. Shinya was the guy to beat, Dagi was the No.1 contender, and now Timofey is the next big threat. Then Eddie is the next big name to take out.
"Once I've cleared out the lightweight division I'd love to move up to welterweight, get a crack at that belt as well, and possibly become a double champ.
"I plan on moving up, and winning the welterweight title."
Considering his confidence and how impressed Sityodtong is with Lee's abilities, it may not be long before he gets there.