ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee thrives off a good challenge.
Martial arts fans witnessed this after he stepped into the Circle on short notice to take on Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Championship Final in October 2019, where he secured tournament gold.
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Now “The Warrior” wants to test his mettle against a former ONE Lightweight World Champion and Philippine martial arts pioneer.
“I would love to share the ONE Circle with Eduard Folayang,” Lee said. “I have a lot of respect for all that he’s accomplished in his career, and I think that we could put on a great show for the fans.”
The man who also goes by the name “Landslide” has had a storied mixed martial arts career and has enjoyed major success on the global stage.
In November 2016, he achieved a career highlight when he defeated the legendary Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki via third-round TKO to claim the ONE Lightweight World Title.
The Filipino defended his belt only once before losing it, but he recaptured the gold in November 2018 after defeating Amir Khan in front of thousands of adoring fans at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila.
Folayang’s second reign as lightweight king was short-lived, however. In a rematch against Aoki in March 2019, he succumbed to a first-round triangle choke.
Since then, Folayang has improved both on the feet and on the ground. Couple that with his never-say-die attitude, and Lee can’t help but give “Landslide” the respect that he deserves.
“Eduard is a very good striker and is now rounding out his wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” Lee said.
“However, I feel that his main strengths are his heart and his killer instinct. He’s the two-time former ONE Lightweight World Champion, so he doesn’t have many weaknesses. I think he’s a great fighter.”
ONE Championship returns to martial arts action with ONE: NO SURRENDER, an audience-free, closed-door event in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, 31 July.
Download the ONE Super App to catch the event live and for free.
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