One Championship: ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee came back from the brink but says ‘it wasn’t easy’
- The 22-year-old opens up on how her patience and resolve were put to the test during a ‘really tough’ 18 months
- Lee returns to the One Championship cage to face her biggest test, looking to solidify her crown as the queen of Asian MMA
Angela Lee carries the fight name “Unstoppable” with her into the cage but it has seemed over the past 18 months that the fates have conspired to make a lie of that particular moniker.
From a car accident back home in Hawaii that could have ended up being so much worse, to a back injury that robbed Lee of a marquee match-up with the One Championship’s Chinese world strawweight champion Xiong “Panda” Jingnan. The 22-year-old Lee’s patience – and resolve – has been put to the test.
“It’s been a journey, I’m not going to lie and say it was easy,” she says. “Most of the adversities I’ve encountered were outside the cage. It was really tough to get through those moments but everything happens for a reason. It’s led me to where I am, here today, and I’m happy and I’m grateful.”
Now comes the moment of truth and now comes Tokyo. Lee (9-0) and Xiong (13-1) will finally meet as a co-headline bout at the “One: A New Era” card on Sunday at the historic Ryogoku Kokugikan with the Chinese’ fighter’s title on the line and history there for Lee’s taking, should she claim victory.
Lee would then become the first female fighter to hold two of One’s crowns and, more’s the point, she would reaffirm the commonly held perception that she’s the hottest property in Asian MMA.