Shozo Isojima sees what others miss when they watch Adrian Lee's explosive finishes. While the mixed martial arts world marvels at the 19-year-old Hawaiian's three consecutive first-round submissions, the 28-year-old Japanese judoka identifies critical flaws beneath the spectacular surface — an overreliance on youthful aggression that masks technical deficiencies and inexperience in deep waters.
Now Isojima gets his opportunity to expose those weaknesses when he faces Lee in a lightweight contest at ONE Fight Night 40 on February 13 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The event broadcasts live in U.S. primetime on Amazon Prime Video.
Lee's professional record tells a simple story: three victories, three submissions, increasingly faster finishing times culminating in a 63-second destruction of Takeharu Ogawa. But Isojima believes that explosive aggression represents Lee's greatest weakness rather than his primary strength.
"The moment the fight starts, he just rushes forward and throws strikes continuously," Isojima explained. "So that momentum, that youthfulness – I'm training to make sure I don't get caught up in it."
Surviving Lee's opening rush represents only the first phase of Isojima's game plan. The Japanese veteran has studied his opponent's sole professional loss carefully. It came in the form of a second-round submission defeat to Tye Ruotolo last September. That performance revealed exactly what happens when Lee's signature aggression fails producing early finishes.
"I don't think he's quite there yet [in terms of] the finer details of creating transitions and developments," Isojima said. "If the fight goes long rounds, I'm not sure how it would end, but I think that could be a weak point."
The assessment carries weight considering Isojima's own recent experience against Ruotolo. The ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion submitted the Japanese fighter in under three minutes at ONE 173 last November. But that defeat reinforced crucial realizations about his championship-level capabilities.
"In my last fight, I didn't prepare my condition," Isojima admitted. "The turnaround between fights was quite short, and I thought I could handle it, but I ended up not being fully prepared. That wasn't good. But facing a top-level grappler like Tye Ruotolo, I didn't feel like there was some tremendous physical difference. So I felt like if I properly prepare and step onto that stage, I can compete. That was a huge learning experience."
The Japanese veteran plans to weaponize his judo credentials in the clinch, where his second-degree black belt expertise creates transitions that overwhelm opponents lacking similar technical foundations.
"My strength is in the clinch – my transitions and developments when we're tied up," Isojima explained. "I think I can establish control there."
"If Adrian comes rushing in with momentum, I think I can weather that and then in the second round take a dominant position, score points, or get close to a finish," Isojima predicted. "But if he comes out measuring things in that first rush, I think it could really be a tough three-round decision."
