By:  | November 22, 2023 10:24 pm

Christian Lee will be back in action at ONE Fight Night 19. He holds the promotion’s lightweight and welterweight titles and it isn’t clear which one he will be defending on February 17th.

The event is set for the Singapore Indoor Stadium and it sounds like Lee is penciled in to be the headliner. Chatri Sityodtong confirmed the news with SCMPA MMA just now,

“I spoke to Christian a couple of weeks ago to see how he’s doing and he gave me the green light. He said, ‘I’m ready to go, Chatri, tell me when’. The team and I talked about it, so February is when Christian will come back.”

Three names

Chatri wouldn’t reveal which title Lee would be defending. The lightweight and welterweight divisions have been on hold while the 25 year old took an extended break from competitive action.

Lee’s sister, Victoria Lee, committed suicide last December and has hasn’t fought since. According to Chatri there is a shortlist of opponents with three names on it,

“It will be a title defence. It’s going to be a nice card, so we’re trying to figure it out. It’s been narrowed down to three opponents who are all worthy of a title shot, it’s just going to come down to which athlete we think is right to go for gold.”

Numerous contenders

There are numerous contenders at lightweight. Saygid Izagakhmaev and Halil Amir are both in the mix and have won all of their ONE Championship fights to date.

The list of potential opponents at welterweight is not quite as long but Zebaztian Kadestam put himself firmly into contention by stopping Roberto Soldic at ONE Fight Night 10 earlier this year. The Swedish fighter’s style could make him an attractive candidate for a fight with Lee.

While Lee hasn’t fought for a year Chatri says he has been back in training for several months,

“He is very fired up. He’s been training for the last few months, he says he’s in his best form ever.”

In the past Lee’s achievements have been  somewhat overshadowed by his older sister’s. He succeeded in capturing titles in two weight classes, something which Angela Lee conspicuously failed to do, but has not managed to acquire as big a fan following.

Angela Lee’s retirement has paved the way for the 25 year old to establish himself as a real fan favourite in Singapore just like she did. It will be interesting to see what opponent he is matched with and in which weight class.