ONE Championship: Xiong Jingnan suspects ‘bias’ after Chatri says Angela Lee won title fight
- Strawweight champ reacts angrily to suggestion she did not deserve to get the judges’ nod in dramatic trilogy bout in Singapore
- ‘If they don’t believe that I won this fight they can keep rewatching the video and get it in their heads,’ Chinese star says
Xiong Jingnan suspected “bias” after ONE Championship boss Chatri Sityodtong said he believed Angela Lee should have got the nod from the judges on Saturday morning in Singapore.
“The Panda” retained her strawweight title with a unanimous decision in the ONE on Prime Video 2 main event, which prompted boos from the crowd at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Atomweight champ Lee – who made a second unsuccessful bid to swipe her Chinese rival’s crown – said the decision was “upsetting” and that she felt she won the fight.
The Canadian-American, who has Singaporean heritage, was a clear crowd favourite, but was almost finished in the first round before recovering to push Xiong all the way. She even threatened a finish of her own in the second round when she almost found an arm bar and a rear-naked choke.
“The main event, the decision went the wrong way in my opinion,” Chatri told the Post backstage after the event had concluded.
“It was a close, close fight. Super close. The submissions were definitely a near finish but were not as close as Jingnan’s near finish, that was the gap. But after that, I thought Angela had the action.
“I asked to take a look at the judges’ scorecards,” he added. “In the slightest margins I give it to Angela. She stood toe to toe and she actually did very well other than the first round. But looking at the scorecards, it looks like the judges really put a lot of weight on that near finish.”