Asian star Angela Lee calls for MMA to join Olympic family
Sport’s youngest-ever world champion wants Games to go back to the future
Angela Lee, mixed martial arts’ youngest ever world champion, revealed on Thursday she hopes to one day compete in the Olympics in the sport that has gained her unprecedented international fame.
“That would be a-mazing,” said Lee, who last year – at just 19 years of age – won the One Championship’s atomweight world title.
“MMA was sort of in the Olympics back in the day when it was called pankration [a Greek mix of wrestling and boxing] but then it was taken out. So if it was reinstated it would be amazing.”
Lee was a US amateur pankration champion before turning her attention to mixed martial arts – and her suggestion received instant approval on Thursday by Singapore’s Olympic swimming hero Joseph Schooling, who joined the MMA star at an event to promote her return to the cage on Friday night.
The now-20-year-old Lee emerged looking lean and sounding keen to get down to the business of defending her title against Istela Nunes.
“I’m extremely confident going into this fight as I am going in to all my fights,” said Lee. “I’ve trained really hard and I’m just going to go out there and do what I love.