ONE Championship: Chatri has ‘not talked fights at all’ with Angela, Christian Lee as their absence is felt at US debut
- ONE will make debut on US soil this Friday in Denver without the Lee siblings, two of its best fighters and biggest American stars
- ‘I have no idea what their plans are,’ CEO Chatri says – ‘the best thing we can do as fans and an organisation is to support them’
ONE Championship will make its debut on US soil with a stacked event in Denver, Colorado this Friday, but it will do so without two of its biggest stars: Hawaii-based siblings Angela and Christian Lee.
Angela and Christian’s absence from the card is no surprise.
Their 18-year-old sister Victoria – also a ONE fighter – died last December, and the siblings and their family have been in mourning ever since.
Speaking to the Post after Wednesday’s ONE Fight Night 10 pre-fight press conference, the promotion’s CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong admitted that, when his team began planning for a US debut several years ago, the Lee siblings were an important part of their designs.
“In my original plans, years ago, Angela Lee and Christian Lee would be fighting on the US debut,” he said.
“I didn’t even raise it or talk to them about it,” he added. “I just feel like the best thing we can do as fans and as an organisation is to support them in their time of grieving. It’s a long process.”
Angela, 26, has long reigned as ONE’s atomweight MMA champion, while Christian, 24, holds the promotion’s welterweight and lightweight MMA titles.
It is unclear when or if the two ONE stars will fight again, but Chatri is intent to give them all the time they need to decide their futures in the sport.
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“My team are giving space to the Lee family to grieve and to heal, and we’ve actually not talked fights at all with them – zero – so I have no idea what their plans are,” he said.
“If they decide to come back, we’ll support them full-heartedly. If they don’t come back, I’m going to wish them a great retirement. I’m sure I’m going to be friends with Angela and Christian and [their parents] Ken and Jewelz. They’re really special people. I really, truly love them.”
Chatri recently revealed that the winner of Friday’s Stamp Fairtex vs Alyse Anderson bout will receive a crack at the interim atomweight title opposite South Korean contender Ham Seo-hee – a move to keep the division moving in Angela’s stead.
The status of Christian’s titles was a mystery until Wednesday, when the ONE boss revealed the stakes for Friday’s welterweight fight between Roberto Soldic and Zebaztian Kadestam have now been upped.
“The winner of Soldic and Kadestam will get an interim title shot,” he said.
The 28-year-old Croatian Soldic (20-3) is a former two-division champ in esteemed Polish MMA promotion KSW. Kadestam, meanwhile, previously held ONE’s welterweight belt.
Christian Lee (17-4) last fought in November, when he claimed the welterweight belt with a come-from-behind stoppage of Kyrgyzstan’s Kiamrian Abbasov.
Angela Lee (11-3) last fought in September, when she came up short in a bid to claim ONE’s strawweight MMA title from long-time rival Xiong Jingnan, losing a competitive decision.
