Christian Lee wins second world title with TKO of Kiamrian Abbasov

Christian Lee demonstrated that he has a champion's heart.

In the main event of ONE on Prime Video 4 at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kiamrian Abbasov, the former welterweight champion, nearly prevented Lee from becoming a two-division champion. Lee, on the other hand, persevered and staged one of the year's best comebacks.

Abbasov got stripped of the championship because he failed to make scale before the match, but 'The Warrior' was still qualified to win it because he did so before Friday night's main event.

The bout had a series of ups and downs throughout the main event. Kiamrian Abbasov came out very aggressively in the first few seconds, putting his hands on Christian Lee right away. Lee tried to defend himself, but Abbasov easily avoided all of Lee's attacks. Abbasov was able to force his way back to his feet after Lee successfully executed a much-needed takedown to pause the action.

Christian Lee started to connect as the momentum reduced, but he took a vicious hook from Abbasov and was knocked out. As Abbasov ran out of gas attempting to conclude, Lee was only thinking about staying alive. Lee escaped participating in the second round after securing a takedown late in the first.

After a frantic opening round, the action slowed down, but both men continued to deliver powerful blows at the other. Abbasov was content to stand back and reply while Lee remained to be the one carrying things forward.

After the second and third rounds were fairly evenly matched, Lee started to gain the upper hand by focusing on Abbasov's lead leg and landed several effective combinations and brutal elbows.

Before referee Herb Dean intervened with less than a minute remaining in the fourth round, Lee had Abbasov reeling after landing a double leg, immediately mounting his rival, and landing a succession of elbows.

After the triumph, "The Warrior" spoke with Mitch Chilson on his career-defining victory:

“I give Abbasov credit man. He was the champion for a reason. Very tough dude. I left it in the ring. I can hardly carry these belts, but yeah, I didn’t know where I was, but a true champion never quits so I found a way to come back.”

When questioned about pulling off such an amazing turnaround after nearly losing in the opening round, Lee responded:

“It’s the training, man. There’s no way around hard work. That’s the truth. In the cage here, there’s no shortcuts. What you put in is what you get out. I have an amazing team. My coach, my dad helping me strategize. My little brother is the next champion right there. The list goes on. So many friends back home. My whole training room was full. I was able to get in great work. Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to push.”