Weightlifting is an integral part of MMA, but is chasing bigger PRs really everything? Teenage ONE Championship sensation Adrian Lee's success proves that real power should be functional.

Recently, Adrian Lee sat down with BodyBuilding Bros for a one-on-one chat ahead of his bout with Shozo ‘The Great Teacher’ Isojima, where we asked if gym work is a priority.

The 19-year-old answered, "We do adjust the intensity and style of our MMA training as we progress through camp and near the fight. However, we don’t specifically focus on hypertrophy or power in the gym work."

Muscles help in martial arts, but excessive size can limit flexibility. Take the former UFC two-division champion Jon Jones as an example. He is nowhere as muscular as Bradley Martyn, yet his MMA skills are unparalleled, proving that technique and adaptability matter more than sheer muscle.

When asked about the importance of functional training, Lee made it clear that it means almost everything to him.

“I believe that functional strength work is more important than traditional gym lifts in training for MMA. Your muscles need to be able to move in motion and perform the same lifts that you would in an MMA fight.”

Well, it’s not a joke, as his entire family has been in the MMA business for a long time. Adrian Lee, Angela Lee, and Victoria Lee are all part of ONE Championship, and now, after his loss to Tye Ruotolo, Lee is looking for redemption.

Adrian Lee Is Looking for a First-Round Finish

The loss to Tye Ruotolo was the very motivation he needed to get back to the gym and recalibrate his game so that his next opponent regrets stepping inside the cage with him.

In his conversation with ONE Championship, ‘The Phenom’ stated, "I feel like my biggest strength as an MMA fighter is the ability to mix it up. I feel like since I’ve been training MMA since I was a kid, I haven’t really been a specialist."

He further added, “The way I see this fight playing out is that I get the finish in round one. That’s always my plan, always my priority going into any of my fights, but I believe that I’m just going to take whatever comes first. I’m going to work my striking and take him to the ground. Probably a TKO finish.”

With a set plan, Lee is looking set to settle his debt with Isojima, but will he be able to defeat him when the cage door locks up behind them?

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Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Souvik Roy