Christian Lee, the reigning ONE Championship lightweight and welterweight champion, is set to return to the ring on Nov. 8 at the ONE 169 card in Atlanta to defend his lightweight title against Alibeg Rasulov after a hiatus following the tragic death of his sister Victoria Lee.
Christian Lee is back.
The reigning ONE Championship lightweight and welterweight champion is finally ready to resume his career. He’s got a fight booked at the ONE 169 card at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Nov. 8.
On that night, Lee defends his ONE lightweight title against Alibeg Rasulov. Rasulov recently beat former ONE champion Ok Rae Yoon to earn his shot at becoming champion.
ONE Championship officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Friday.
Lee’s return comes after a long hiatus from the sport. This break followed the tragic death of his sister Victoria Lee, who was also competing in ONE Championship when she passed away in 2022 at just 18 years old.
Both Christian and his older sister Angela Lee took time off to mourn Victoria’s death. ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong admitted he wasn’t sure either would ever return to compete again.
Angela ultimately decided to retire after revealing that Victoria died by suicide. She now wants to dedicate herself to a new non-profit organization focused on mental health.
Christian, however, was adamant about eventually fighting again. Now he makes his return almost exactly two years after defeating Kiamrian Abbasov to become a two-division champion.
He’ll step right back into deep waters facing Rasulov, who comes into the fight with a perfect 14-0 record, including his debut win in ONE in July.
The ONE card in Atlanta is headlined by heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin defending his belt against Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane.