Christian Lee submits Keanu Subba in third round of featherweight battle

Christian “The Warrior” Lee showed composure and poise beyond his 19 years of age on Friday, 18 August. in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lee managed to defeat hometown hero Keanu Subba via armbar in a back-and-forth battle at ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS.

In the opening moments of the bout, Lee struck first, connecting with a cross-hook-cross combination to Subba before pressing the Malaysian warrior against the cage.

Subba, who trains at Bali MMA, fought off the fence, and then took the center of the cage and pressed forward. After a lot of feinting and several missed strikes from both men, Subba connected with an overhand right to the head.

Lee recovered by working for a takedown against the cage, but Subba took hold of a front headlock before fighting off the fence once more. From there, the 23-year-old Malaysian marched forward with a punching combination of his own.

“The Warrior” covered up and then circled away from danger. Subba continued his pursuit, landing a right cross and then an outside right roundhouse kick to the leg, as he stalked the Evolve MMA product down.

Lee checked a couple of subsequent leg kicks before countering with a jab, and soon landed a clean right cross to his opponent. Although Subba absorbed the shot, he connected with more kicks to the leg, and finished a series of kicks with one to the body of Lee to end the round.

As soon as the bell rang to begin the second frame, Subba stormed out with intent. Lee calmly circled away from the impending danger, and then got back on the attack, landing several hard punches. He threw a kick, but the Malaysian caught it and drove him to the ground. From there, Subba peppered him with strikes.

Undeterred, Lee regained his footing and delivered a big takedown of his own. The Singaporean teenager had two minutes to work, and work he did. He postured up and rained down some heavy punches, which prompted Subba to turn to his side. 

“The Warrior” saw his opportunity to finish and went for it. He latched onto an arm-in choke with under a minute left in the round. Despite defending the choke, Subba was struck by knee after knee.

Lee continued his momentum in the third stanza with another takedown. From there, he mounted his opposition and dropped more strikes. The punishment had taken its toll on Subba, as he was unable to defend for much longer.

This time, the Evolve MMA product would not be denied. He locked up a triangle choke, and transitioned to an armbar to force the Malaysian to tap out.

For the first time ever, Lee goes past the opening frame to get the win. He improves his record to 7-1, and catapults himself into the upper echelon of ONE Championship’s featherweight division. Subba’s defeat dips his overall mark to 5-3.