Eddie Alvarez Injured, Christian Lee Faces Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev At ONE: CENTURY
Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez has been forced to withdraw from ONE: CENTURY PART I, but an exciting new match-up has been made to fill the void.
The four-time mixed martial arts World Champion from America was due to face Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Championship Final on 13 October in Tokyo, Japan, but ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that an injury means he can no longer compete.
Instead, the man from Istanbul, Turkey will now face ONE Lightweight World Champion, Christian “The Warrior” Lee, who has stepped up with little more than two weeks until the event.
The Singaporean superstar has mainly competed in the featherweight division in The Home Of Martial Arts, but he shocked the world by moving up in weight to challenge, and defeat, Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki for the belt in May.
The 21-year-old boasts a 100-percent finishing rate, which includes eight wins by knockout and four by submission.
His upcoming opponent has also never been to the judges’ scorecards, and has only gone beyond the first round once in his career. Arslanaliev has six KOs and a pair of submission finishes on his record, and his only professional defeat came by disqualification due to an accidental foul.
“Dagi” progressed through the first two rounds of the World Grand Prix tournament with first-round knockouts of Ev “E.T.” Ting in February, and Amir Khan in May.ONE: CENTURY PART I will also feature Christian’s sister, Angela, in the main event, as she defends her ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title in a rematch against “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan.
Read More: Angela Lee Out For Redemption Against Xiong Jing Nan
ONE: CENTURY is the biggest World Championship martial arts event in history with 28 World Champions featured across various martial arts. No organization has ever promoted two full-scale World Championship events on the same day.
The Home Of Martial Arts will break new ground as it brings multiple World Title bouts, a trio of World Grand Prix Championship Finals, and several World Champion versus World Champion matches to the famous Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on 13 October.
