‘I’ve Been Able To Watch Him Grow’ – Big Bro Christian Excited For Adrian Lee’s Next Fight At ONE 168: Denver
ONE Lightweight and Welterweight MMA World Champion Christian Lee may be preparing for his next title defense at ONE 169: Atlanta, but he had to take a slight detour to coach his younger brother Adrian Lee for the latter’s second appearance in the world’s largest martial arts organization.
“The Warrior” has been the architect of his youngest sibling’s martial arts career, most recently drawing up plans for the 18-year-old’s upcoming lightweight MMA fight at ONE 168: Denver on Friday, September 6.
“The Phenom” will follow up his tremendous debut at ONE 167 by walking down the aisle of Ball Arena to compete against Nico Cornejo in a contest that could dictate the future of the division.
After leading his brother through a rigorous training camp, Christian offered insight into what fans can expect from his protege.
“The Warrior” told onefc.com:
“Since we started his career, really for the last few years now, I’ve been his head coach. So, I’ve been able to watch him grow from being a talented teenage athlete to now being a world-class professional.
“There’s been a big difference in his development over the last few years, and I think that he’s more than ready for this fight ahead of him. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
Although Adrian is a neophyte in his career, he is accustomed to experiencing everything that goes along with competing on the global stage.
To prove it, Christian reminded fans why growing up in the vaunted Lee family has given his younger brother a leg up on the competition.
He said:
“It’s very helpful that he’s been the youngest of our four siblings.
“From 8 years old, he’s been ringside at these events, being with us all the way through. From a young age, he was exposed to it. By the time he got in there with his debut, of course there were nerves, but everything was so familiar to him.
“He definitely isn’t your average first or second-fight pro. He’s had world-class experience himself competing as a youth, and his whole childhood was basically traveling to these fights and seeing the events for 10 years.”
Reviewing And Refining The Game Plan
In his debut at ONE 167, Adrian Lee defeated Antonio Mammarella with lightning-quick takedowns before finding the rear-naked choke finish in the second round.
But that wasn’t good enough for him. In fact, during his post-fight interview, Adrian lamented that he couldn’t end the match in the first round.
Christian, however, was the voice of reason for his younger brother, reaffirming that the result was precisely what he needed to get his feet wet on the global stage.
The two-division ONE World Champion said:
“I actually have talked to him about this before. He put on an amazing performance. He did exactly what we set out to do. We had a plan laid out, he followed the plan, and he fought a tough opponent.
“So he made it to the second round, but there was no point in the fight where he was in trouble. No point where he was in danger. And for me, as his coach, that’s a perfect fight because he didn’t take any damage. He went out there and got ring time and then he got his hand raised and got a bonus as well.
“I know he’s thinking that it would have been better as a first-round finish, but as his coach, I can see that the way it played out was how it was meant to be.”
The two brothers have been preparing a strategy that will let Adrian showcase the strides he has made in just three months and help him get acclimated for Colorado’s mile-high elevation.
Christian knows his brother will try for a classic Lee-family finish, but he wants him prepared for every eventuality should Cornejo prove to be tougher than expected.
Within the confines of the Prodigy Training Center, Christian has been conducting what he hopes will be his brother’s breakout symphony on September 6.
He said:
“You know from his last fight to this fight, I’ve seen him grow and develop a lot just from having the experience of being in there and then getting his first win. It’s really helped him to level up.
“I think in this next fight we’re going to see him composed but aggressive. He’s going to go out there and he will be looking to get the finish done in the first round. His conditioning is excellent right now. Even with the elevation, we’ll be going up a little bit ahead of time, and I don’t think that that will be a factor if it needs to go all three rounds.
“Depending on how tough his opponent is, he’ll be ready for it, but we have a lot of setups and a lot of traps in place so that, hopefully, it doesn’t go all three rounds.”
