One Championship: Angela Lee reminds the world – and herself – she belongs at the top
- ‘Unstoppable’ admits she was plagued by self-doubt after losing last two fights
- ‘I really truly feel like I’ve learned so much this year, more than all the years combined’
Angela Lee was in dire need of a win when she stepped into the cage with Xiong Jingnan at One: Century Part 1 in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon.
She’d lost her first two fights of 2019, including a March TKO defeat by Xiong, and with her atomweight title on the line, would be on the verge of a career breakdown with a loss.
Luckily for Lee and her legions of fans, things went as planned in the Japanese capital. In the waning seconds of the fight’s fifth and final round, she hurled Xiong to the canvas, locked up a rear-naked choke, and forced out the tap.
“I’m so happy,” Lee said at the post-fight press conference inside the hallowed Ryugoku Sumo Hall.
“Earlier in the year, I was struggling with a lot of self-confidence, a lot of doubt. I was like, ‘Man, do I really belong here? Am I really this champion?’
“The way that it played out this night, me having to work for it and work for, keep pushing, and then in the end get that finish … It’s a dream come true.”