Potential History-Making ONE Championship Fight Called Off

A potential history-making ONE Championship match has been called off.

ONE atomweight champion Angela Lee has unfortunately suffered an injury and will be forced to withdraw from her scheduled bout at Friday’s (November 9, 2018) ONE: Heart Of The Lion. Lee was previously expected to fight strawweight champion Jingnan Xiong in the main event from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

However, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced on Facebook today (Tues. November 6, 2018) that Lee was not medically cleared to compete, and was removed from the card:

“I am bummed to announce that our medical team has deemed ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee unfit to compete in ONE: Heart Of The Lion this Friday, November 9. As such, I have made the decision to pull Angela off the card, despite her adamance to compete still in the world title fight against ONE Strawweight World Champion Jingnan Xiong.

“We all know that Angela is a warrior with an unbreakable spirit. However, she suffered a serious back injury in training last week and badly herniated a spinal disc; she was unable to walk just a few days ago.”

With the removal of Lee vs. Xiong from the card, a bantamweight title bout between Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon has been moved to the main event slot.

It was also announced that a fight between Christian Lee and Kazuki Tokudome will serve as the co-main event.