Christian Lee To Gun For Second World Title At ONE On Prime Video 4

To say that Christian Lee has a gargantuan task ahead of him is a massive understatement.

The reigning ONE lightweight champion will move up in weight to face Kiamrian Abbasov for the Kyrgyz's coveted welterweight title in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 4, which is set to take place at the 12,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium on the morning of November 19 (November 18 in the United States).

Lee, who holds a professional record of 16-4, is fresh from his bounce-back win this past August when he defeated South Korean arch-nemesis Ok Rae Yoon in their rematch via second-round knockout to recapture the lightweight belt.

Prior to having two separate reigns as the kingpin of the 77.1-kilogram weight class, the 24-year-old Singaporean-American started out as a featherweight, winning 11 of his 14 outings from December 2015 to January 2019 before deciding to transfer to lightweight when a world title opportunity was offered to him four months later.

In his first assignment as a lightweight, Lee dropped jaws and got everybody's attention as he ousted Shinya Aoki from the Japanese legend's throne atop the division by way of knockout in the second stanza.

Ever since his world title-clinching performance, Lee has nearly been an untouchable force, defeating high-caliber opposition and more natural lightweights such as Saygid "Dagi" Arslanaliev, Iuri Lapicus, Timofey Nastyukhin and Ok.

Now, Lee eyes to join an elite cast of talented mixed martial artists like Martin Nguyen, Aung La N Sang and Reinier de Ridder who have achieved the feat of holding world titles in two different divisions simultaneously.

Although Lee's stellar run in much lower weight classes speaks highly of his caliber as a prizefighter, he finds in himself in a precarious position that invokes second thoughts.

The man standing in the way of Lee is Abbasov, who has turned the welterweight division into his natural habitat for the majority of his 11-year MMA career.

Abbasov has won four of his six bouts under the ONE Championship banner, including a second-round stoppage of UFC vet Yushin Okami in May 2019 and a unanimous decision victory over Zebaztian Kadestam to get hold of the welterweight strap five months later.

The Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan native failed short in his bid to claim the elusive "double-champ" status last February, yielding to de Ridder for the middleweight title by third-round submission.

Both men are driven by their personal motivations, with Lee aiming to log his name into the record books of ONE Championship while Abbasov gunning to write his own redemption arc.

Even though it seems that Lee has a tall order in front of him at ONE on Prime Video 4, Kadestam believes that "The Warrior" has a great chance of dethroning Abbasov.

"I always get surprised by Christian Lee because he managed to fight these monsters and do very well for himself. I think he's gonna be a little bit small, but he's so fast and technical so I think he's gonna have a good chance with a lot of guys," Kadestam told South China Morning Post.

ONE Championship is expected to release the initial lineup of matches for ONE on Prime Video 4 in the coming weeks.

One of the two cage encounters confirmed to take place on the aforementioned card is the champion-versus-champion showdown between Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Joseph Lasiri, which was reported here on the International Business Times last October 3.