ONE Championship

No fighter in ONE has more wins, more finishes, or more first-round finishes than the promotion’s lightweight MMA king. His next defense comes against a grappler who has already beaten a member of his family.

Christian Lee defends his ONE Lightweight MMA World Title against reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo at The Inner Circle 37 on Friday, November 6. The event streams exclusively for members from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 28-year-old Singaporean-American holds an 18-4 record, with 17 victories via finish and 11 of those in the first round. His bouts last an average of just 5:14 minutes.

Lee debuted in ONE in 2015 at 17 and first claimed lightweight gold in May 2019. He came from behind against Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki. That win made him the youngest male MMA World Champion in the promotion.

He went on to defend the belt multiple times against world-class opposition and also holds the ONE Welterweight MMA World Title. A brief spell without the lightweight strap followed a loss to Ok Rae Yoon, which he corrected in their rematch.

Last year, the Prodigy Training Center star turned back Alibeg Rasulov in a rematch that left no room for debate. The numbers now make him a five-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion and one of the greatest to compete in the sport.

Christian Lee faces a grappler chasing history

Ruotolo, 23, opened his MMA career by submitting Lee’s younger brother Adrian “The Phenom” Lee with a rear-naked choke in round two, the first loss Adrian had ever suffered. A sub-three-minute finish of Shozo Isojima followed, lifting the Tenore fighter and twin brother of Kade Ruotolo to 2-0.

No ONE Submission Grappling World Champion has ever captured an MMA World Title in the promotion. Ruotolo gets his chance in just his third MMA outing, while Lee looks to add another chapter to one of the most decorated careers ONE has ever seen.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM