ONE Championship: Lea Bivins aims to emulate training partners Angela and Victoria Lee ahead of MMA debut
- The 19-year-old American atomweight faces Zeba Bano at ONE 159 on July 22 in Singapore
- BJJ purple belt hopes to start career ‘with a bang’ and one day earn ‘dream fight’ with Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex
Lea Bivins is hoping to follow in the footsteps of some of ONE Championship’s biggest names ahead of her professional MMA debut.
The 19-year-old American atomweight is slated to make her debut in the opening bout of the ONE 159 broadcast on July 22 in Singapore, taking on India’s Zeba Bano.
As her first fight draws ever closer, she is drawing inspiration from Hawaiian siblings Christian and Angela Lee – ONE’s former lightweight champion and current atomweight champion respectively.
“My dad would always show me Christian and Angela’s fights growing up,” Bivins, whose father is a retired professional fighter, told the Post on Thursday. “They were definitely an inspiration to my own martial arts journey.”
The thing that sets Bivins apart from other Lee fans is that she is not just a fan.
The Brazilian jiu jitsu purple belt has trained with both Angela and Christian at United MMA in Hawaii, and even more extensively with their younger sister, atomweight prospect Victoria Lee, who is now 3-0 in ONE after making her pro debut with the promotion last year.
She met the family when she and Victoria were competing at a tournament together in Rome, and they have stayed close ever since.