ONE atomweight world champion Angela Lee announced her official retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts on Friday night at the promotion’s ONE Fight Night 14 event in Singapore.
Lee, who has reigned as ONE Championship’s first and only atomweight queen, laid down her title in the middle of the ONE Circle in an emotional moment just before the evening’s main event, announcing that she was walking away after nearly a decade of dominance. The announcement comes nine months removed from the tragic loss of her sister and budding MMA prospect, Victoria Lee, who took her own life in late December.
Hours before she stepped into Singapore Indoor Stadium to address the live crowd, Lee made her announcement during an interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.
“It’s been a crazy journey and I have nothing, but love for the sport, for ONE Championship, for MMA, but I’m going to be redirecting my energy to FightStory, the non-profit that I’ve created and carry on the fight outside of the cage and moving forward with that. It’s been a big week, but I’m ready for this change and I’m excited,” Lee said.
After the passing of her little sister, Lee established FightStory, a non-profit mental health platform that encourages fighters from all walks of life to share their stories of struggle, tragedy, and triumph.
‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee Has No Regrets
Lee’s love for the sport led her to amass an impressive 11-3 record during her tenure with ONE Championship. She boasts an impressive 83% finish rate, including eight victories by way of submission.
“The whole reason I started fighting is because I loved it and I still have a lot of love for the sport, but just in a different way now,” Lee said. “To be honest with you, I just don’t have the heart for it. I don’t have the heart to step in there again and I know that… It might sound corny or whatever, but if you follow your heart, it will always lead you in the right direction. That’s why I know I’m making the right decision by choosing to retire now at this moment.
“I’m really proud of everything I’ve done and I don’t have any regrets. It’s been a really great career so I can just look back on it and smile and just look forward to the future now.”
The Lee family is practically combat sports royalty with Angela Lee and her brother Christian Lee establishing themselves as two of the most prolific finishers in MMA. The pair also shared three world titles between them with the latter holding both the lightweight and welterweight world titles.
“I did give it a lot of thought. It’s just really tough because my sister was fighting,” Lee added. “My whole family is fighters. My dad was our coach and because everything was so intertwined and connected, that’s one of the big factors that I’m stepping away. It’s just very difficult to go on. Things are very different now and it will never be the same.
“With that being said, I know this is the right decision in my heart. I’m gonna miss it, but I’m excited.”
Though she may be walking away from MMA, Angela Lee has every intention of continuing her strong relationship with ONE Championship and its CEO, Chatri Sityodong, who recently revealed that he would be joining the board of directors for Lee’s organization.
“I will keep a close relationship with ONE and Chatri,” Lee said. “I just love this company. I pretty much grew up here and they’re doing really big things. Lots of exciting news to come in the future so I’m more than happy to continue to be a part of that.”
With her retirement, the ONE Fight Night 14 main event between Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee was immediately promoted from an interim title fight to an undisputed championship clash. In the end, Stamp scored a third-round TKO after delivering a devastating body blow that folded Ham. With the win, Stamp becomes the first-ever three-sport ONE world champion, having held titles in Muay Thai, kickboxing, and now MMA.
Watch the full interview below:
