ONE Championship: Christian Lee still waiting on Eddie Alvarez to win a fight, says UFC legend not worthy of title shot
- Lightweight champ thinks his ONE:Revolution opponent Ok Rae-yoon is only viable contender left in his division
- Lee plans to move up to welterweight to chase a second belt, but is ‘looking forward to seeing what Eddie can do’
Eddie Alvarez has yet to impose his violent will on ONE Championship since jumping ship from the UFC two years ago, but lightweight champion Christian is still watching – and waiting.
The 37-year-old American (30-9) had hoped to battle Lee (15-3) for the belt in 2021, to complete his bid to become the first man to win titles in all three of the US-based UFC and Bellator, and Asian promotion ONE.
But a disqualification for illegal blows against No 2-ranked Iuri Lapicus (14-1) – which was overturned to a no contest – on April 8 was followed up by a unanimous decision defeat by the unheralded Ok Rae-yoon (15-3) three weeks later in Singapore.
“I’m glad I’m fighting Ok – in my opinion, he’s the only guy deserving of a title shot right now,” Lee told reporters during a virtual media day, ahead of his ONE: Revolution clash with the South Korean on September 24. “He just got moved up to No 3 [in the rankings]. He’s the only guy in the top five I haven’t faced yet.
“Eddie Alvarez, he was a big name coming over from the UFC. When ONE signed him, he had a lot of traction behind him, but since then he hasn’t done enough to build himself a run up to the title.
“I’m still waiting on Eddie to start winning a few fights, then we can square off in that circle. But for now Ok is the only worthy contender.”