Angela Lee may be expecting her first child in April 2021 but the “Unstoppable” atomweight champ has no plans to walk away from MMA. Last week, the 24-year-old announced she is nearly three months pregnant, with ONE Championship CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong revealing there will be an atomweight grand prix starting early next year. But Lee (10-2) has confirmed she will not be vacating her title and is determined to meet the winner of the eight-woman tournament face-to-face in the ONE Circle. “I think this is great because there are finally enough women in the division to really have an exciting tournament like this,” Lee told SCMP MMA. “I wish I could be in the tournament – that grand prix belt is so pretty. “As for myself, I want to get back into fighting after I have my baby and so my plan is to come back at the end of 2021 next year. By that time the grand prix will be wrapping up, and I’d like to face the winner of the tournament and they’ll be fighting for my title, so I don’t plan on vacating. I plan on coming back and fighting. “This is my first time doing this [pregnancy], but hopefully fingers crossed if everything goes smoothly, I’d like to give myself about six months and then come back to fight and defend my title in about October, November, December, who knows?” ONE: Denice blasts Angela Lee, calls on pregnant champ to give up belt The No 1-ranked Filipino Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga (5-0) was set to face Lee for the title before the outbreak of the pandemic, and it seems the fight was also on the cards for October 30’s blockbuster Inside The Matrix show. That would have made it a spectacular five title fights on offer, with Lee’s 22-year-old brother Christian “The Warrior” Lee (13-3) defending his lightweight belt against the undefeated Iuri Lapicus (14-0) of Moldova in one of four championship bouts. “Christian has been preparing for months now, we’ve really had this whole year to focus on training and just staying ready. So I was supposed to fight on this card with Christian,” she added, laughing. “I was training really hard and I was actually in the best shape of my life, I would say. View this post on Instagram ' ! Yes!!! I am #preggers !! We've been hiding this secret for about a month and a half now but we finally decided it's time to share this amazing news with the world! I'm officially 11 weeks pregnant and baby #PucciLee is estimated to be due: April 21, 2021 We don't know the gender just yet but we will be placing bets soon! I'm so excited to start this incredible new adventure with you @bpucci Let the next chapter begin!! A post shared by Angela Lee Pucci (@angelaleemma) on Oct 1, 2020 at 6:11pm PDT “I was 10 pounds away from my fight weight and then we found out I was pregnant. Life has a funny way of working itself out. I believe everything happens for a reason. I’m super excited for Christian, though I’m bummed out that I wont be able to attend. But I have so much faith in him that he’s gonna have an excellent first title defence.” As for whether she thinks Zamboanga will still be her opponent when she’s ready to return, Lee was uncertain. “I’m not sure, I think that’s what makes it so exciting,” Lee said. “You really get to see how everything plays out in this division. I know there are a lot of talented female fighters who are set to be in the grand prix, I’m curious to see who they end up picking. “Obviously ONE released top five rankings so I assume they’re all gonna be in there. I think maybe Stamp Fairtex [4-0] and Itsuki Hirata [6-0] and one or two other people should be in there as well. I’ll be watching closely to see how it plays out.” The tournament will probably come too soon for Lee’s 16-year-old sister Victoria Lee, who signed her first professional contract with ONE last month. “It would definitely be a great experience for her because the women who are in the division are seasoned, they’ve had quite a few more fights than she has,” Lee said. “But I’m not sure, I’ll leave that up to my dad to make that decision.” Lee does believe that Victoria will make her debut on one of the Singapore shows this year, however. “I think that’s the plan,” she said. “That would be ideal, just because she’s really familiar with it. She’s been with us to so many events backstage and, of course, with our Singaporean heritage and our roots and family over there it makes sense.”