March 29, 2024

Former two-time lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang believes fellow former world champion Christian Lee is already among the greatest ever fighters in ONE Championship even if the latter has not yet reached his prime.

The 37-year-old Folayang is one of the early pillars of ONE Championship and he believes Lee has got what it takes to carry the promotion to the next generation.

The Team Lakay elder said Lee has already proven he belongs in the pantheon of mixed martial arts 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 resumé that some of the sport’s veterans can only dream of achieving.

The Singaporean-American reigned as ONE lightweight world champion for more than 800 days and defeated absolute killers Shinya  Aoki, Kotetsu Boku, Dagi Arslanaliev, Iuri Lapicus, and Timofey Nastyukhin.

Lee was also the ONE lightweight world grand Prix champion when he scored a unanimous decision win over Ars-lanaliev in October 2019.

Lee fought his entire professional career at ONE Championship and has amassed 15 wins since 2015.

Folayang added he can’t exactly predict what Lee is capable of. He only knows the Evolve MMA star has nothing but tremendous exploits in the future. 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 when the two collide on Aug. 27. – ONE release