ONE Championship’s Top 5 Young Guns

The ONE Championship roster is stacked with the best martial artists in the world, but remarkably, some of them are barely older than teenagers.

The Home Of Martial Arts is committed to giving the best and brightest young athletes the chance to prove what they can do against some of the most experienced competitors in the world, and many of them have risen to the occasion at the highest level. Two have even gone on to win World Championships.

These are the top five superstars in the world’s largest martial arts organization who are 22 and under.

#1 Christian “The Warrior” Lee

The Singaporean became the youngest male mixed martial arts World Champion in history when he defeated Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki this month to win the ONE Lightweight World Title.

It might be hard to believe for fans who have seen Lee compete on the global stage for martial arts since 2015, but he is still only 20.

The United MMA and Evolve representative exploded onto the scene with a 29-second knockout in his debut aged just 17 years, 5 months, and 6 days old. Since then he has competed against, and dominated, many of the established names he has faced in the Circle.

Now, after his surprise step up in weight, he has a belt to defend, and he also has his eye on the gold down at the featherweight division.

#2 “Unstoppable” Angela Lee

Before Christian Lee reached the top of the martial arts world, his sister, Angela made history as the youngest ever mixed martial arts World Champion.

The “Unstoppable” star captured the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title when she was 19 against Mei “V.V.” Yamaguchi – a Deep Jewels World Champion with almost five times as much professional experience at the time.

Now 22, Lee has gone on to defend the belt three times and boasts an impressive 9-1 record.

She is also one of the faces of her organization, and a role model for fans around the world thanks to her ability to face adversity, and come back stronger.

#3 Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit

This 22-year-old might just be the most promising mixed martial artist in all of Thailand.

Mitsatit started in his new sport all the way back in 2014 on the back of an outstanding 72-17 record in “the art of eight limbs” that took him to a Northern Muay Thai Championship in his homeland.

“The Smiling Assassin” is still adding grappling tools to his game, but he is already one of the top strawweights on the planet thanks to his sensational striking. He proved that with a fantastic finish of Robin Catalan earlier this month.

Now 10-2, with all but one of his wins by stoppage, Mitsatit expects he can challenge for his division’s World Title in the not-too-distant future.

#4 Jihin “Shadowcat” Radzuan

Malaysia’s top women’s martial arts talent has displayed maturity beyond her years on the global stage for martial arts.

Although she debuted in ONE last year after just one professional match, she has looked at home under the lights with three memorable victories in 2018.

Her most impressive win against Jenny Huang showed how well-rounded she is as a mixed martial artist despite her inexperience. She has added a dominating Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu attack to her Wushu World Champion striking skills to suggest it may not be long before she can go all the way and rule her weight class.

If the 20-year-old from Johor Bahru continues to evolve, there is no doubt she will be able to reach that level.

#5 “The Stalker” Xie Bin

The 21-year-old product of Tianjin Top Team had a rough start on the global stage for martial arts, but that did not discourage him from chasing his dream of success in ONE.

Following the agony of losing the ONE Hefei Bantamweight Tournament final, and then dropping his next match to fall to 1-2 in his professional career, Xie has gone on a remarkable six-match winning streak.

Better yet, all but one of those victories came inside the distance, including his latest triumph, in which he submitted Ahmad Qais Jasoor with his patented D’Arce choke.

“The Stalker’s” skill set seems to be growing at an exponential rate, but it is not the only thing. He is also getting stronger as he grows into his rangy frame, and has hinted at a move up to featherweight for his next contest.