Christian Lee has yet to reach his prime but Filipino legend Eduard Folayang believes the elite lightweight is already up there among the greatest ever fighters in ONE Championship.
Folayang was one of the early pillars of ONE Championship and he believes that Lee has got what it takes to carry the promotion into the next generation.
The Team Lakay elder said Lee has already proven that he belongs in the pantheon of MMA and that the young star can still achieve unparalleled success inside the Circle.
“He is an exceptional athlete, we all know that. Through the years, he had shown his tremendous growth in the sport and he justly earned his spot in the elite group of all-time fighters in ONE Championship,” Folayang said.
Lee is only 24 years old but he already carries an illustrious resume that some of the sport’s veterans can only dream of achieving.
The Singaporean-American reigned as the ONE Lightweight World Champion for more than 800 days and defeated absolute killers Shinya Aoki, Kotetsu Boku, Dagi Arslanaliev, Iuri Lapicus, and Timofey Nastyukhin.
He’s also the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Champion when he scored a unanimous decision win over Arslanaliev at ONE: Century Part I in October 2019.
Lee fought his entire professional career at ONE Championship and has amassed 15 wins since 2015. Winning, however, isn’t enough for Lee with the former lightweight king holding 10 knockouts and four submissions to his name.
Folayang added that he can’t exactly predict what Lee is still capable of, he only knows that the Evolve MMA star has nothing but tremendous exploits in the future.
“I honestly can’t assess with certainty but looking at his age, he’ll go a long way to go in MMA.”
Although Lee has reaped tremendous praise from Folayang, he wants nothing more than to reclaim the ONE Lightweight World Title from South Korean star Ok Rae Yoon.
Lee can do just that when he rematches Ok in the main event of ONE 160: Ok vs Lee II on August 26, Manila time, which broadcasts live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
