On May 17, 2019, Lee defeated Shinya Aoki to win the ONE Lightweight World Championship for the first time. With his older sister Angela already holding the ONE Atomweight World Championship, they became the first brother-sister pair of mixed martial arts world champions.[4][5][6] Their younger sister Victoria was also a mixed martial artist.
Background
Born in Vancouver to a Chinese-Singaporean father and a South Korean-born Canadian mother, Lee moved to Hawaii when he was five years old. As both his parents are decorated martial artists, Lee started training in the sport from a young age.[citation needed] Lee's older sister Angela (born July 8, 1996, in Vancouver) is also an MMA fighter with ONE Championship[7] and his younger brother, Adrian (born in Waipahu), also trains in martial arts. Lee's younger sister Victoria, who was also a mixed martial artist signed to ONE, died in 2022 at the age of 18.
At the 2012 USA Pankration national championships, Lee won two national titles and one silver medal.[8][9] He also won the World Championship in the MMA division at the 2012 World Pangration Athlima Federation Championships.[10][11]
Mixed martial arts career
Lee trains out of United MMA in Waipahu, Hawaii and Evolve MMA in Singapore, alongside his teammate and sister, Angela and her husband (and also his brother-in-law), Bruno Pucci, who also competes in ONE Championship's bantamweight division.
Lee made his amateur debut in 2015 at Star Elite Cage Fighting, where he defeated Avery Sanchis via first-round submission.[12]
For the first time in his career, Lee was pushed to three rounds before finally submitting Keanu Subba with an armbar at ONE Championship: Quest for Greatness on August 18, 2017.[20]
Lee dropped another match against Filipino Edward Kelly at ONE Championship: Beyond the Horizon on September 8, 2018, after he was disqualified under the promotion's global martial art ruleset.[25] During his takedown of Kelly, Lee was judged to have used an illegal belly-to-back suplex that caused Kelly to land on his head and neck.
He got back on the win sheet against former Pancrase Lightweight Champion Kazuki Tokudome in a 73 kg catchweight bout at ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion on 9 November 2018, defeating the Japanese fighter in the first-round via TKO.[26] The match was added to the card on short notice after his sister Angela Lee, who was scheduled to face Xiong Jing Nan for the ONE Strawweight Championship, was forced to pull out due to a back injury.[27]
In his anticipated rematch against Edward Kelly at ONE Championship: Eternal Glory on January 19, 2019, Lee stopped Kelly via first-round TKO and pushed his overall record to 14–3.[28]
ONE Lightweight Champion
Lee agreed to an open challenge for the title from ONE Lightweight World ChampionShinya Aoki, issued in March 2019 just after Aoki had won the lightweight title himself.[29][30] Lee, a featherweight, would be moving up a division in order to challenge for the belt.[31] On May 17, 2019, at ONE Championship: Enter The Dragon, Lee survived an armbar submission attempt to upset the Japanese grappling legend in the second-round via TKO finish and win his first mixed martial arts world title.[32][33] His victory also made him the youngest ever male mixed martial arts world champion,[4] as well as the first ever brother-sister pair of world champions in the history of mixed martial arts, with his sister Angela Lee holding the ONE Atomweight Championship.[6]
On September 26, 2019, ONE Championship Chairman and founder Chatri Sityodtong announced that Lee had accepted an offer to serve as a late-notice replacement for the injured Eddie Alvarez in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Championship Final. The match would be against Turkish finalist Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev at ONE Championship: Century Part I on 13 October 2019, after initial replacement Filipino fighter Edouard Folayang had trouble with visa issues. The late insertion into the event would allow Lee to fight on the same card as his sister Angela Lee, who was defending her atomweight title that night.[34][35] Lee would go on to win by unanimous decision, earning the ONE Lightweight Word Grand Prix Championship.[36]
Lee defended his ONE Lightweight Championship against Iuri Lapicus at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix on October 30, 2020.[37] After surviving an initial barrage, he won the fight in the first round by TKO via punches on the ground.[38]
Lee next defended his ONE Lightweight Championship against Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE on TNT 2 on April 14, 2021.[39] He won the fight via TKO just over a minute into the first round.[40]
Lee was scheduled to defend his ONE Lightweight World Championship against Ok Rae Yoon at ONE Championship: Revolution on September 24, 2021.[41] Lee lost the fight by a unanimous decision.[42][43] Due to the controversial nature of the decision, it was reviewed by the ONE Competition Committee which ultimately upheld the result.[44][45]
Lee rematched Ok Rae Yoon on August 26, 2022, at ONE 160.[46] Lee recaptured the title after dropping Yoon in the second round and finishing him on the ground with knees.[47] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.[48]
ONE Welterweight Champion
Lee moved up to 185 lbs and debuted at welterweight as he challenged for the ONE Welterweight World Championship against reigning champion Kiamrian Abbasov on November 18, 2022, at ONE on Prime Video 4.[49] At weigh-ins, Abbasov missed weight, coming in at 186.25 lbs, 1.25 pounds over the limit. Abbasov was stripped of the title and the bout proceeded at a catchweight with only Lee being able to win the title.[50] He won the fight via technical knockout in the fourth round.[51] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award,[52] and made Lee the fourth simultaneous two-division champion in ONE history.
Hiatus
Lee is on hiatus from competition due to the death of his sister, fellow-competitor, Victoria Lee, but has expressed commitment to continue fighting in the future.[53]
Personal life
Lee holds American and Canadian citizenship.
Lee and his wife Katie had their first child in April 2021.[2][54]
Lee's older sister is fellow ONE World Champion Angela Lee, and his younger sister Victoria Lee made her successful professional MMA debut at the age of 16 on February 26, 2021.[55] On January 7, 2023, it was revealed by his sister Angela that Victoria had died on December 26, 2022, at the age of 18.[56][57] On September 19, 2023, his sister Angela confessed that she had attempted suicide in 2017 and that their youngest sister, Victoria had taken her own life in December 2022.[58]
Championships and accomplishments
Pankration
World Pangration Athlima Federation (WPAF) World Championship
Welterweight debut. Won the ONE Welterweight Championship (185 lb). Abbasov missed weight (186.25 lb) and was stripped of the title. Only Lee was eligible to win the title. Performance of the Night.
