ONE Championship: Istela Nunes’ criticism of Angela Lee ‘incorrect, inaccurate’, says Rich Franklin
- ONE vice-president insists former atomweight title challenger ‘doesn’t know what she’s talking about’
- Brazilian, who is now fighting in the UFC, claimed champion missed weight for their Singapore title fight in 2017
ONE Championship vice-president Rich Franklin has dismissed Istela Nunes’ claim that Angela Lee missed weight for their 2017 title fight in Singapore.
The Brazilian, now fighting in the UFC, claimed this month in an interview with MMA Fighting that ONE “screwed” her out of 30 per cent of Lee’s purse, and that the champ had stepped on the scales at 58 kilograms, missing weight by 2.8 pounds.
Lee had reportedly been diagnosed with pneumonia a week out from the fight, but went on to submit Nunes in the second round to retain her atomweight title.
“Istela talked about Angela Lee missing weight, and she was talking about them fighting at strawweight, and she said Angela weighed 128 [pounds],” UFC Hall of Famer Franklin told the Post.
“Keep in mind first of all that her recollection of all that is incorrect, because that fight was not at strawweight. It was at atomweight, so they had to weigh in at 115 pounds.”
Asian martial arts promotion ONE uses a hydration testing system that in theory bars fighters from cutting water weight during fight week, meaning weight classes are 10 pounds higher than other MMA organisations.
Hirata exit leaves ONE atomweight grand prix reeling, again
Nunes (7-2, one no contest) claimed ONE officials also told her Lee had made weight, but would not let her see the results.
“I do know that Angela struggled to make weight that time, but she did make weight,” Franklin said. “We allow a 200-gram allowance on our weigh-ins, so she did make weight and she did make hydration as well.
“Istela did have the ability to send someone from her camp to witness that kind of stuff. However, her recollection of that and what she actually stated in the article are inaccurate, because she was talking about the wrong weight class, so I don’t know what she was talking about.”
“When I saw the first time she was way over, so you can’t fight,” Nunes had said this month. “ONE isn’t like the UFC, where you can dehydrate. We have weight goals all the way.
“If you’re over that, there’s no fight. She was way over, she couldn’t even fight because it would count as dehydration. And they still favoured her in every way possible. I was upset.”
