Christian Lee Confident Of Fast Finish In MMA World Title Rematch At ONE 173

Two-division ONE World Champion Christian Lee opened up about the controversial ending to his last title defense and vowed to leave no doubt in his rematch against undefeated Turkish sensation Alibeg Rasulov

at ONE 173 on 16 November in Tokyo, Japan.

In the main event of ONE Fight Night 26 in December 2024, Lee put his ONE Lightweight MMA World Title on the line against the 32-year-old Rasulov. That championship bout ended controversially in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke.

Lee initially believed his opponent was taking extra time to recover when the eye poke occurred, but he felt robbed when the fight was stopped. He believes he was dominating the action and sensed momentum shifting decisively in his favor.

"When the initial eye poke happened, I was like, 'Okay, give him some time. ' I thought he was just trying to get a breather. But when it was called off, I really felt like the victory was right there," Lee said.

"I think that him being more competitive didn't change the fact that I was dominating the fight, and the way that we felt in there, I felt that the momentum was shifting. That's why I was upset about the ending. "

Despite Rasulov's competitiveness in their first encounter, Lee remains confident he controlled the fight from start to finish. The two-division king felt he was approaching a decisive finish before the unfortunate stoppage robbed fans of a clear conclusion.

For the rematch, Lee plans to waste no time establishing dominance and finishing the fight definitively. He has visualized multiple paths to victory but believes his grappling superiority will produce a quick submission finish in Tokyo.

"I plan on going in there and wasting no time. I see it ending in a few different ways, but if I could just stay straightforward, I think that I'll take him down, and I'll submit him within the first five minutes," Lee declared.