Christian Lee
Understandably, UFC fighters dominate this list, but I wanted to throw into the mix one name whose achievements in the sport already warrant respect, and someone who will be hitting his fighting prime just as the next decade comes to a close.
Twenty-one-year-old [autotag]Christian Lee[/autotag] has been nothing short of phenomenal for Asia’s biggest MMA promotion ONE Championship, as he has risen from teenage prodigy to the heady heights of the ONE lightweight world title and, most recently, the ONE lightweight grand prix title.
The Vancouver-born Singapore resident and brother of fellow ONE star Angela Lee has looked outstanding over the past 18 months, and his best is undoubtedly still to come. Lee is young, he’s super-talented and he’s evolving his game and fight I.Q. at a rapid rate. And, with ONE looking to make inroads into the U.S. market over the next few years, Lee’s stock as a rising star of the sport could get a real boost in the coming years.
Despite ONE’s continued rise, I’d love to eventually see Lee compete in the UFC’s featherweight or lightweight divisions, where I think he’d be a fantastic addition to the promotion’s already uber-talented 145- or 155-pound weight classes. Give him a couple of years in the UFC and, after he finds his feet competing Stateside, I think he could build on his existing popularity in Asia and become a truly global star for the promotion by the middle of the decade. And by the end of it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him holding a UFC title.