Honoring Victoria and helping young people: Christian Lee discusses the goals of the New Prodigy training center

When Christian “Warrior” Lee returns from a two-year layoff to defend his ONE Lightweight MMA world title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 26 on Prime Videohe will proudly represent his new gym in Hawaii, Prodigy Training Center.

The two-division MMA titleholder is set to fight the undefeated Turkish sensation Alibeg Rasulov live in US primetime on Friday, December 6.

That fight will take place at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and it will be Lee’s chance to remind fans around the world that he is one of the best – and most entertaining – MMA athletes around.

A lot has changed since “The Warrior” last competed. Ago tragic passing of his younger sister, Victoria Leeat the end of 2022, he decided to close the doors of the Lee family’s gym, United MMA.

“The Warrior” continued to train behind the scenes, working closely with his younger brother, Adrian “The Phenomenon” Leewho was preparing for his long-awaited professional debut in ONE. At the same time, he ran a non-profit organization that aimed to provide training and a safe space for youth in the area.

To keep that nonprofit funded, Lee decided to completely renovate and reopen the family gym, now called the Prodigy Training Center. The 26-year-old told onefc.com:

“I had another nonprofit business. We opened it and called it Prodigy Community Center. The goal was basically to take after-school kids who can’t afford training and give them a place before classes to do their homework, hang out, and then train in classes for free.

“And then go home if they can’t be picked up by their parents. That was the main thing that determined everything.”

The Prodigy Training Center is now growing rapidly, with avid striking and grappling martial artists as well as emerging amateur and professional fighters.

While he has big goals for both himself and the fighters he trains, Lee said the main motivation behind Prodigy Training Center remains to give back to his community:

“We are building the gym. We’re trying to grow all the classes and get to a point where we can not only support everyone, all the staff and coaches we have on board – but then come right back and give back to the community in an equal way. a bigger way than helping kids and adults who are already working out, but also doing a nonprofit community work.”

Lee also finds personal motivation in the name of the gym. His late sister Victoria was nicknamed “The Prodigy” for her supernatural martial arts skills.

“Warrior” is beyond proud that both he and his brother now wear the logo of the Prodigy Training Center in the world’s largest martial arts organization as a small but significant way to remember their sister :

“Obviously the name comes from my sister’s nickname and it’s just a little tribute to her in that, you know, we still go to work and just have a little bit of her memory with us.

“It’s nice to see everyone walking around the gym wearing Prodigy shirts and to see Adrian go out there representing it. I look forward to wearing it in my fights as well. There is great meaning behind what we do.”

Lee cultivating Future ONE superstars at the Family Gym

Beyond the benevolent goals Christian Lee has for the Prodigy Training Center, he is interested in developing a team of world-class fighters.

Leading that charge is his brother Adrian Lee, who is now 2-0 in ONE and looks well on his way to international superstardom.

“The Warrior” said the students at the Prodigy Training Center have been inspired by Adrian’s meteoric rise and hope to continue his bubble at ONE Fight Night 26:

“When Adrian and I go in there and compete and win, it shows them firsthand that the training and skills they’re learning every day really work.

“Leading up to Adrian’s fight, we covered a lot of the sequences that he did that lead up to finishing classes. Many of our students would say when we come back, “That’s exactly what you taught in class and that’s what coach Adrian achieved in his fight!”. I think it’s great.”

For his part, elder brother Lee remains focused on defending his gold against Alibeg Rasulov on December 6.

But when he’s not training, he’s training a group of athletes who he hopes will produce the next generation of ONE superstars:

“Not only in my fighting career, but also in my coaching career, my goal is to see our fighters become professionals, do well and then make it to ONE Championship.

“And soon, we’ll have an entire team of Prodigy represented on one of the ONE cards.”