Asian MMA fighter Angela Lee talks about taking on Chinese fighter Xiong Jingnan

Jul 14 , 2020

Angela Lee after defending her One Championship atomweight title. Photo: One Championship

We don’t yet know when we will see reigning One Championship atomweight queen Angela Lee back in action, but the Hawaii-based 24 year old is raring to get out and fight

Although she may not have the name recognition of the UFC and WWE’s Ronda Rousey or the hugely inspiring Paige ZanVant, Angela Lee is one of mixed martial arts’ (MMA) top female fighters. As well as being an amateur champion at national and international level, the Canadian-American – who was born in Vancouver but grew up and continues to live in Hawaii – holds the distinction of being MMA’s youngest-ever professional champion, an accolade she gained when she defeated Mei Yamaguchi at the age of 19 to claim One Championship’s Atomweight Women's Title.

Since then Lee’s career has had its ups and downs, including her first defeat, but she remains One’s Atomweight Women’s champion. She talks to us about growing up in Hawaii, her love for martial arts when a young girl, her rivalry with Chinese fighter Xiong Jingnan, and what’s next in store for the woman nicknamed “Unstoppable”.

You started martial arts training when you were just six. What was it like at such a young age?

It had so many benefits, even if I didn’t realise it at the time. Six years old was when I started competing, but I had been training even before then. When I was really young I would follow my parents into work, which was the gym, and I’d be there watching them teach, watching the other students and learning a lot.

When did you become aware of MMA as a style of fighting?

When I was going through school. It was kind of embarrassing, as when I was growing up, MMA wasn’t too popular. Other kids would ask “what sports do you play” and I’d say MMA and they’d ask “what is that?”.

It was probably around the time I got to high school that UFC and the women’s division started to come alive and that’s when I was inspired. That’s when I really started thinking of it as something I’d like to do in the future.

Who were the women back then that you looked up to and inspired you?

I had the opportunity when I was still in high school to go to a couple of UFC events, and one of the events I went to I remember watching Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Those two were probably the prime women I saw in the women’s MMA scene.

I think everyone was excited to see female fighters, with such talent, being displayed on such a big stage. And watching females fight is a completely different thing [from watching men], it’s beautiful, it’s exciting, and I just wanted to get into that.