ONE Championship has long maintained a close working relationship with the Lee family, with siblings Angela Lee and Christian Lee both winning titles in the promotion after debuting as teenagers. The latest family member to join the ONE roster is 18-year-old Adrian Lee, who made a successful debut with a submission win in June.
But his addition to the roster came after careful consideration by ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who had reservations following the tragedy that occurred with Victoria Lee.
Much like her siblings before her, Victoria fought in ONE while she was still a teenager and quickly put together a 3-0 start to her career. Sadly, Victoria died in December 2022, with her sister Angela later revealing that Victoria took her own life in a tragic suicide.
So when Adrian Lee sought to follow in the footsteps of his brother and sisters, Sityodtong signed him only with an abundance of caution.
“I was very cautious about Adrian, although he’s supposed to be the best in the family from what Angela and Christian have told me,” Sityodtong told MMA Fighting. “He’s the best by far in terms of when they were 17 compared to his skills at 17 years old. Of course, he has the benefit of having two older siblings that are world champions who have gone through that path. Both on the athletic side, but also the marketing side with the pressures, the fame and the fortune, all of that stuff.
“But at the same time, I was still very cautious, because [of] Victoria Lee. Growing up, Angela and Christian were very close, and then there’s a several year age gap, and then it was Victoria and Adrian were very close. So it was two [of them with Angela and Christian] then several years later, another two [with Adrian and Victoria]. Adrian was super close to Victoria. I was very cautious and worried because it’s a very hard thing to follow in the footsteps of older siblings and then also a tragedy.”
As a promoter, Sityodtong works with hundreds of fighters, but even he can’t deny the close relationship he’s forged with the Lee family after spending so many years with them.
Victoria’s death hit everybody hard ,and there was a time when Sityodtong was convinced both Angela and Christian would walk away from fighting forever.
“Without a doubt, the Lee family is an extraordinary family,” Sityodtong said. “Incredible human beings. I love Ken, the patriarch, and Jewel as their mother, and Angela and Christian and Victoria and Adrian.
“When Victoria Lee passed away, it was an unspeakable tragedy. I wasn’t sure they would ever fight again, to be frank, and Angela did end up retiring and doing something in honor of her sister, something much bigger. Now she has her non-profit foundation focused on mental health and helping folks who may be going through difficult times. Christian and I have had several talks, I flew to Hawaii to visit the family and visited Victoria’s resting place. I wasn’t sure if Christian was going to come back, and then one day I got a call from Christian saying, ‘No, Chatri, I want to come back, I just need to get in shape.’”
While Angela surrendered her title and retired, Christian still holds both the ONE welterweight and lightweight titles after Sityodtong promised he would give the 26-year-old fighter whatever time he needed to grieve and recover from the death in his family.
It appears that hiatus is nearing an end, with Sityodtong revealing that Christian would’ve already fought in 2024 but wanted to put full focus onto his brother Adrian’s debut before returning to the cage himself.
“So Christian would have been ready and was ready to fight in June,” Sityodtong said. “But what an incredible older brother, he wanted to make sure he was able to be there 1000 percent for Adrian as a training partner, a coach, and a brother for his fight. He didn’t want to be in camp or focused on his own fight.
“Last year, Christian was having a baby, his second born, so he didn’t want to fight [around then]. So at certain points, he was ready to fight, but I wanted Christian to have the runway and the peace of mind that they weren’t going to get stripped or any of that kind of stuff. They could focus on healing and taking care of their families. I think it was the right thing to do. That being said, Christian is coming back and he will be very active once he’s back. I think the division will start to get a lot of the limelight.
Christian is now officially set to return on Nov. 8, with a lightweight title defense booked at ONE 169 in Atlanta.
As for Adrian, his career got off to a good start with a second-round submission in his pro debut. His second fight is already booked for ONE 167 in Denver in September.
