One Championship: Angela Lee sorry for Xiong Jingnan defeat – ‘I didn’t have anything left in the tank’
- Asia’s MMA queen says she ‘put it all on the line’ in fourth round
- The 22-year-old ‘gave it all I had’ trying to submit Chinese ‘Panda’ with armbar
Angela Lee has apologised for her defeat by Xiong Jingnan in Sunday’s One Championship strawweight title fight in Tokyo – and promised to come back stronger.
The 22-year-old One atomweight champion was finished by body blows in the fifth round after the Chinese “Panda” somehow refused to submit while Lee had her locked in a lengthy and deep arm bar in the fourth round. Lee did not attend the post-fight press conference but finally broke her silence on social media.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t accomplish my goal last night. I put it all on the line and gave it all I had in that 4th round, trying to finish her with the triangle/armbar. When it came to the 5th round, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank. No excuses,” Lee, who fell to her first career defeat, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon.
It was a brutal battle at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Sumo Hall – Xiong’s face was covered in bruises as she soaked up the adulation of fans in the lobby of Shinagawa’s Grand Prince Hotel hours after the fight.
“I hope everyone was entertained by this fight,” Lee said. “I promise to learn from this and come back stronger. Defeat is a mindset and I choose to remain strong.”