Christian Lee shared some sage advice to the younger generation to emulate Shinya Aoki if they want to succeed in mixed martial arts and grappling.
The reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion hasn’t been shy about proclaiming his admiration for ‘Tobikan Judan’, who has already etched a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career.
In a recent interview with the Bangkok Post, Lee expressed how honored he is to have fought and trained with one of the best Japanese martial artists of all time.
“Shinya is a legend of the sport, a pioneer of the sport. I’m just so honored to have been his training partner, to also have shared the ring with him. It’s amazing what he was able to accomplish with I think over 60 fights in his pro career.”
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‘The Warrior’ continued:
“It’s just amazing. Any young fighter looking to learn about how to use grappling in MMA should study Shinya, hands down.”
Shinya Aoki and Christian Lee had a passing of the torch moment at ONE: Enter the Dragon back in 2019. The Singaporean-American superstar dethroned the legendary fighter via TKO to usher in his reign as ONE lightweight MMA world champion.
Meanwhile, the 41-year-old Aoki emerged victorious in his last outing at ONE 172 last month, where he submitted rival Eduard Folayang in one round.
Watch the full interview:
Christian Lee says beating Shinya Aoki is a massive feather in his cap
Christian Lee considers his victory over the iconic Shinya Aoki as a career milestone. Quite frankly, it was also one of the most memorable wins of his career.
The two-division MMA king said in an earlier interview with the South China Morning Post:
“I started off my pro career at 17 years old, he was the lightweight champion at that time and it all circled around to me fighting him for the lightweight belt, so yeah, it’s crazy, the relationship we have, but I’m a really big fan of his and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to go for next.”
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Edited by C. Naik
