Christian Lee has been away from ONE Championship for over two years. The layoff will end on Friday, Dec. 6, at ONE Fight Night 26, as he defends the ONE Lightweight MMA Championship against Alibeg Rasulov.
However, he has remained busy back home in Hawaii, establishing a new gym and giving back to the local community. It has been a renewed focus for the ONE Lightweight and Welterweight MMA Champion since the passing of his sister, Victoria.
“I had another nonprofit business. I opened it up and called it Prodigy Community Center. The goal was to basically take kids from after school, who can’t afford training, and give them a place before the classes to do their homework, to hang out, and then to train in the classes for free,” Lee expressed to ONE.
“And then have a ride home if they can’t get picked up by their parents. That was the main thing that drove everything.”
With the closing of United MMA came Lee’s own gym, Prodigy Training Center. It was not just renamed but rather rebuilt from the ground up.
As the gym’s founder and head coach, Lee has been making sure its mission is rooted in community.
“We’re building up the gym. We’re trying to grow all the classes and get it to a point where we can not only support everyone, all of the staff and the coaches that we have on board – but then immediately turn around and give back to the community in an even bigger way than helping the kids and adults who are already training, but doing some nonprofit community work, as well,” the ONE Lightweight and Welterweight MMA Champion said.
“The Prodigy” was Victoria’s nickname when she competed, and Lee has made sure to honor his sister by using the moniker for the gym. His brother, Adrian, became the first athlete to represent the gym when he debuted in ONE last year.
As the gym continues to grow and athletes wear the logo, it serves as a constant reminder of his purpose and his sister’s enduring legacy.
“Obviously, the name came from my sister’s nickname, and it’s just a small tribute for her in the sense of, you know, we’re continuing to go to work and just have a piece of her remembrance with us,” Lee said.
“It’s nice to see everyone walking around in the gym wearing Prodigy shirts and see Adrian going out there representing it. I’m looking forward to wearing it in my fights, as well. It’s a great meaning behind what we’re doing.”
Lee has been able to see the impact of what happens on the global stage thanks to his brother’s two impressive victories.
The students they have at the gym are able to see the effectiveness of the skills they are being taught and become inspired by the wins. Knowing this, Lee understands his upcoming title defense will have an even bigger impact on those who he teaches.
“When Adrian and I go in there and compete and win, it shows them firsthand that the training and the skills that they’re learning every day really work,” the defending champion remarked.
“Leading up to Adrian’s fight, we covered a lot of the sequences that he did that led to the finish in classes. A lot of our students would say when we come back, ‘That’s exactly what you taught in class, and that’s what coach Adrian pulled off in his fight!’ I think it’s great.”
The return to action is not just about defending the 26 pounds of gold he carries into the match. It is a larger purpose that he hopes will help grow the next generation of Prodigy Training Center athletes.
Winning and defending the title are two of the primary goals, but he also hopes this is just the beginning of Prodigy Training Center’s long-lasting impact in ONE, with a bevy of talented martial artists soon to come down the pipeline.
“Not only in my fighting career, but in my coaching career, my goal is to see our fighters turn pro, do well, and then eventually make it into ONE Championship,” Lee stated.
“And soon, we’ll have a whole team of Prodigy representing on one of the ONE cards.”
ONE Fight Night 26 airs live and free on Prime Video on Friday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST to all Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.