Former ONE Champ Angela Lee Considered UFC Move: ‘It’s Crossed My Mind’
Angela Lee can’t help but wonder how she would have fared in the UFC.
Lee became the youngest fighter in MMA history to win a world title, claiming the ONE atomweight championship at 19 years old via a unanimous decision victory over Mei Yamaguchi in 2016. In the years that followed, ‘Unstoppable’ became one of the most exciting fighters on the roster, delivering a series of instant classics, including an iconic trilogy with Xiong Jing Nan and an absolute banger against her eventual successor, Stamp Fairtex, at ONE Championship’s 10th-anniversary event in Singapore.
She successfully defended her atomweight crown on five separate occasions and twice competed for the strawweight world title.
Sadly, Lee laid down her gold and her gloves at ONE Fight Night 14 in September 2023 following the tragic passing of her 18-year-old sister and ONE Championship prospect Victoria Lee.
Reflecting on her career in combat sports, Lee admits that she regularly thought about what it would have been like to step out of the ONE Championship spotlight and into the Octagon to test herself against a new crop of talent.
“I think if you ask any fighter, any champion, they wanna go out and test themselves,” Lee said in an interview with Demetrious Johnson. “That’s what it means to be a fighter. You’re always looking for the next challenge. If you ask any of them, yes, 100 percent, they would love to go and fight the best of the best and really find out who was No. 1.
“It’s come across my mind multiple times, of course, seeing the top-level fighters in other organizations. Looking back now, it’s really hard because when you’re in the organization, especially at the top, it’s such a scary thing to go out and jump ship or try” (h/t MMA Mania).
Angela Lee knew it was time to lay down her gloves
Following the death of her sister, Lee was inspired to address her own struggles with mental health and acknowledge that her passion for mixed martial arts simply wasn’t there anymore.
“I told myself, I love it, I love it, I love it, for so long,” Lee said. “After a while, I wasn’t really honest with myself about like, ‘Hey, I think I might be getting burnt out. Hey, this is not really fun anymore. I want a break.’ But I didn’t know how to or … I did voice it up to my team and my family, but there was some disagreement about, ‘Hey, this is not really the time to do that and this and that.’”
Last year, Lee launched FightStory, a non-profit mental health organization inspired by the life of Victoria Lee. “Our mission is to inspire, heal, and unite the world through the stories, struggles, and triumphs of fighters from all walks of life,” the official website reads.
Visit the official FightStory Instagram to learn more about the cause and how you can share your story with the world.
