ONE lightweight champ Christian Lee explains how he’d attempt to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov

Christian Lee, who holds the lightweight belt in ONE Championship, has shed some light on how he’d attempt to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov, the UFC lightweight champion, has never been beaten in 28 professional fights. Lee is very impressed by the UFC champ, but believes he’s beatable—and would love to have the opportunity to prove it one day.

“One person I see across the globe who’s doing extremely well and who I would really love to share a cage with one day is Khabib Nurmagomedov,” Lee told the media in Singapore this week. “He is undefeated in his professional career. He’s beaten everyone there is to beat. Right now I believe he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound guy, so it would just be an honor to share the cage with him and to one day make a superfight between ONE and the UFC.”

“If me and Khabib were to fight, I think the biggest thing is people worry about his game too much,” Lee added. “They worry about not getting taken down. They don’t worry so much about how they are actually going to win the fight. So I think I would just pick him apart with my striking, stuff his takedowns, and then take him down as well. My game plan would just consist of getting off to the punch before he does. Because once he gets going, and once he starts taking you down, it’s all downhill from there. The key to beating him is hitting him first, and continue hitting him until you get your hand raised.”

Christian Lee is slated to defend the ONE lightweight title against undefeated Moldovan contender Iuri Lapicus at ONE: Inside the Matrix on October 30 in Singapore. Khabib Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, is days out from a lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje, which headlines Saturday’s UFC 254 card in Abu Dhabi.