Christian Lee made it clear after his win over Ok Rae Yoon at ONE 160 that he had no intention of facing the Korean a third time. But his opponent is still hoping that a trilogy fight between the two lightweights can get made.
In an Instagram post Yoon paid tribute to the two time lightweight champion but made it clear he still has unfinished business with Lee:
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Return the favour
Yoon points out that he accepted Lee’s request for an immediate rematch after beating him by decision at ONE: ‘Revolution’. He thinks that it is time for the Hawaiian to return the favour,
“I accepted Christian Lee’s request for a rematch right away and stepped in that circle as promised. We are 1-1 now. If Christian Lee would accept my challenge also and settle our score with our third fight as a true champion, I’ll be ready anytime.”
One factor that is definitely not in Yoon’s favour here is Lee’s reluctance to face him for a third time. He is adamant he should have won the first fight and thinks he finished the saga once and for all by winning the rematch so comprehensively,
“For me, finishing Ok the way I did, there’s no need for a rematch because I feel that I won the first time. And I made it sure that I won the second time. So this is it.”
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Best in the world
Lee believes he is the best lightweight in the world and is looking ahead to new challenges. Yoon, who was the standout fighter on the ONE Championship roster last year, does not appear to be on the two time champion’s agenda.
But one factor in Yoon’s favour could be the lack of alternative opponents. Lee has already beaten everyone in the top five except for #5 ranked Saygid Izagakhmaev who takes on Lipeng Zhang at ONE 161 later this month.
Were the winner of that contest to be injured it would leave Lee without any obvious opponents at lightweight. So while a trilogy bout with Yoon is clearly not what the champion wants it could end up being what he gets if there aren’t any viable alternatives.
Yoon did come across as extremely humble in defeat. He was dominated from start to finish before Lee put him away early in the second round and admits there is work to do,
“I will never make any excuses or talk about the result. I’ll just train harder and come back as the best version of myself.”
