On Jul. 12, it was announced by ONE Championship that two-division champion Christian Lee will finally be making his return to the ONE Circle as the co-main event of ONE 169 in Atlanta, Ga. on Friday, Nov. 8. He will be facing the up-and-coming contender Alibeg Rasulov to make his first lightweight title defense, since regaining the belt from Ok Rae Yoon in Aug. 2022.
Lee last fought in Nov. 2022, when he captured the ONE welterweight title with a TKO of Kiamrian Abbasov. The following month, his younger sister Victoria, who was undefeated as a professional, tragically took her own life, and her older brother has not fought since. Training hard, and also coaching his younger brother Adrian, who just made his pro debut in ONE, Lee is finally set to get back to action.
Rasulov last fought in ONE Fight Night 23 last weekend at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. His co-main event bout against the aforementioned Ok was bumped up to the main event on short notice, and the Dagestani warrior picked up a dominant decision win. He will be a formidable opponent, with a career record of 14-0, and this will be a tough test for Lee after a two-year hiatus.
ONE 169 takes place live from the State Farm Arena on Friday, Nov. 8, and the event will be headlined by a heavyweight title bout between three-division champion Anatoly Malykhin and “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane.