SUMMARY
- Christian Lee has not had an MMA fight since November 2022.
- However, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong thinks Lee will return to fighting soon.
Throughout 2024, MMA Fans have been anticipating the return of two-weight ONE World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee. Lee was supposed to return to the Circle this past February, but his family has understandably had plenty on its plate. So the 25-year-old’s re-entry to ONE has been pushed back.
But ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong gave fans an update as to when they can expect to see Lee again. Speaking to Sportskeeda, Sityodtong divulged that Lee’s return will indeed take place soon.
“He’s coming back in the lightweight division. He is coming back later this year. The date is still to be determined. There’s always a bunch of moving parts to build a great card, but he’s 100 percent coming back this year,” Sityodtong said.
View this post on Instagram
“I think we’re going to announce another U.S. event and another Tokyo event in the next few weeks as well, and I believe Christian will be featured on American soil.”
Lee last saw action in a memorable contest at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November 2022. He came back from the brink of defeat to stop Kiamrian Abbasov in the fourth round, adding the ONE Welterweight World Championship to his resume as double-champ.
The cloth from which Lee is cut proves he’ll be back to his truest form when he does return to action, so fans will keep an eye out to see which U.S. card he’ll feature on when the time comes.
What are the potential fights for Christian Lee?
When two-division ONE World Champion Christian Lee’s return to the Circle takes place, a litany of contenders will be chomping at the bit to get their shot at him.
But being a two-weight champ, Lee will have names in both the welterweight and lightweight brackets gunning to clash. One of those could be former lightweight king and old foe Ok Rae Yoon. And in the welterweight category, Hiroyuki Tetsuka could have his name in the hat following an impressive five-fight winning streak. But when Lee does set foot back in the Circle, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong wants to ensure it’s the right place and time.
View this post on Instagram
“We are going to do an interim welterweight World Title fight. We have two contenders in mind that we want to put together. I hope people understand we had to slow down both divisions out of respect and courtesy to Christian,” Sityodtong said.
“But if you were in Christian’s situation, having to deal with the birth of your child and the loss of a loved one, I think we did the right thing by letting Christian come back when he’s ready.”
ONE Championship returns to the U.S. in September with ONE 168 in Denver, Colorado. The world’s largest martial arts organization then sets foot Stateside in November, making its debut in Atlanta, Georgia, with ONE 170.