Just 18 years young, Adrian Lee made his pro MMA debut at ONE 167 in Thailand on Friday night (Saturday local time), following in the footsteps of siblings Angela, Christian, and the late Victoria Lee.
The Lee name became synonymous with ONE Championship in the late 2010s/early 2020s, with Angela Lee claiming atomweight gold, and Christian Lee becoming a double champ at lightweight and welterweight.
Victoria Lee, the third of the Hawaiian-Canadian siblings to compete for ONE Championship, made her debut with the company at the tender age of 16, quickly building up a 3-0 record through three fights in 2021. In December of 2022, Lee tragically took her own life, leading sister Angela to later vacate her atomweight title, focusing instead on charitable efforts and family.
With Christian Lee on hiatus but in his brother’s camp, Adrian Lee was the first sibling to return to action following the loss of Victoria, taking on Antonio Mammarella. And things started off well for the debuting fighter, landing a takedown in all of 30 seconds, allowing him to work from half-guard, drop elbows, then posture up and fire lefts, rights, and knee strikes.
When Mammarella posted up, Lee briefly wrapped up a choke, but they would move back to center, trading. Lee landed his jab, Antonio Mammarella landed some low kicks, but ref Herb Dean briefly halted the action when Mammarella lost his mouth piece. With action back underway, it wasn’t long before Lee had his opponent back down, unleashing left hands along the fence. Mammarella, to his credit, powered up, but ate a knee to the head then found himself dragged back down.
Late in the round, Lee locked up a slick inverted triangle and then transitioned to a kimura, only for Mammarella to be saved by the horn.
Another early takedown arrived for Adrian Lee in the second, but the fight didn’t stay down, and Mammarella later found some success on the feet, putting Lee on his heels. The teenager found grace under fire, however, and managed to convert another takedown, moving to half-guard and looking to pass to mount. Lee wound up taking the back, then wrapped up a rear-naked choke, forcing Mammarella to tap just seconds later and winning his professional and promotional debut!
Showing a smart game plan and fight IQ beyond his years looked strong for an 0-0 fighter; if nothing else Adrian Lee certainly did his family proud at ONE 167.
Official Result: Adrian Lee def. Antonio Mammarella by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:56
