By The Numbers: Christian Lee

Christian Lee was ticketed for stardom as soon as he showed up on the One Championship scene as a fresh-faced teenager in 2015, and he has done very little to disappoint since.

“The Warrior” has compiled a 15-3 record with 14 finishes, captured the One Championship lightweight crown and won the 2019 One Championship Lightweight World Grand Prix. Lee currently finds himself on a six-fight tear, having emerged as one of the true homegrown talents for the Chatri Sityodtong-led company. Splitting his training time between United MMA in Hawaii and Evolve MMA in Singapore, he last appeared in the One on TNT 2 main event on April 14, when he retained his lightweight championship by punching out Timofey Nastyukhin in just 73 seconds.

As Lee awaits word on his next assignment from One Championship matchmakers, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:

23: Years of age for Lee, who was born on June 21, 1998 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1: Promotion in which Lee has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has spent his entire 18-fight career flying the One Championship flag.

11:24: Total fight time needed for Lee to finish his first five opponents as a pro. Anthony Engelen was the only one of the five to survive to see a fourth minute. Lee put away Engelen with punches and elbows 4:14 into the first round of their One Championship “Union of Warriors” pairing on March 18, 2016.

10: Lee victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 67% of his career total (15). His list of victims includes the aforementioned Nastyukhin, Iuri Lapicus, Shinya Aoki, Kazuki Tokudome and Kotetsu Boku.

5: Lightweight titleholders, including Lee, in One Championship history. Boku, Aoki, Eduard Folayang and Martin Nguyen are the others. Only Lee and Aoki have managed to successfully defend the title on at least two different occasions.

11: First-round finishes to Lee’s credit. They include his professional debut as a 17-year-old, which saw him cut down David Meak with punches just 29 seconds into their encounter at One Championship “Spirit of Champions” on Dec. 11, 2015.

8: Countries in which Lee has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 5-1 in Singapore, 3-0 in Malaysia, 2-0 in the Philippines, 2-0 in Thailand, 0-2 in China, 1-0 in Myanmar, 1-0 in Indonesia and 1-0 in Japan.

4: Submission wins on the Lee resume, accounting for 27% of his career total. His methods of choice: two guillotine chokes, on kimura and one brabo choke.

116: Combined victories between the six men—Nastyukhin, Aoki, Lapicus, Tokudome, Edward Kelly and Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev—Lee has beaten during his current six-fight winning streak. They own a cumulative record of 116-36-1 (.758).

3: Losses on Lee’s ledger. He was choked unconscious by a Nguyen guillotine at One Championship “Heroes of the World” on Aug. 13, 2016, dropped a unanimous decision to Nguyen in their rematch at One Championship “Unstoppable Dreams” on May 18, 2018 and was disqualified for an illegal suplex against Edward Kelly at One Championship “Beyond the Horizon” on Sept. 8, 2018.