“I Have To Prove Myself” – OK Rae Yoon’s Road Back to Lightweight Gold Starts at ONE Fight Night 10

Former lightweight king Ok Rae Yoon will be on a mission when he makes his long-awaited return on ONE Championship’s monumental debut on U.S. soil, ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III. That evening on Friday, May 5, the #1-ranked contender kicks off his journey back to the divisional crown against Hawaiian powerhouse Lowen Tynanes at the sold-out 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado.

The match will mark his first appearance since dropping the ONE Lightweight World Title to Christian “The Warrior” Lee in their rematch at ONE 160 in August last year.

Ok Rae Yoon admitted the lack of form costing him his previous fight against Christian Lee

After grabbing the gold from the Singaporean-American star in their first meeting, the Team Mad representative was battered by Lee right until the latter finished him with his punching power at the one-minute mark of the second frame.

It was a tough pill for Ok to swallow, but the 32-year-old admits that he wasn’t in top form. But still, in good spirits, the Busan native took away a valuable lesson from that night inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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The former lightweight king told ONE, “The higher the level, the more I need to take care of my body. Before that, I competed at a level where even if you were in poor physical condition, you could cover it with your skills. But that night, I felt that even a tiny [detail] was crucial when competing with the best in the world.”

Ok Rae Yoon eyed a rematch against Christian Lee after a series of wins

Now, several months removed from that loss, the former kingpin has a list of things he’d like to achieve before the end of the year. After competing only once last year, the South Korean wants to fight more frequently in 2023 and, more specifically, secure a World Championship trilogy bout with Lee. 

With both men tied at one apiece in their head-to-head rivalry, Ok would love to go one up and reclaim his spot atop the 170-pound division.

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He added, “First of all, since I lost the last match, I have to prove myself in the next match. I have to justify the next fight or two, and if I do that, I think I’m qualified, as Christian Lee did the rematch right away.”