As Angela Lee sits comfortably atop women’s mixed martial arts in One Championship, questions of how she fares against ladies from other top promotions arise. “Unstoppable” has already expressed her desire to move up a weight class, looking to become the first two-division women’s champion with the promotion.
That also means being in the same weight division as Rose Namajunas, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Michelle Waterson, who previously had something to say about her. Before any dream matchups are made, here are five things you might want to know about Lee.
1. She comes from a family of martial artists.
Angela’s father, Ken Lee, is always seen walking out and cornering her in every fight. That isn’t just the usual show of parental support. Ken is her head coach and is a black belt in hap do sool, taekwondo, and jiu-jitsu. Angela’s mother, Jewelz, is also a black belt in hap do sool and taekwondo. Her brother, Christian, is likewise a One Championship title contender who fights at featherweight. A little brother and a little sister who both train in martial arts complete their tightly-knit family.
2. She considers her first amateur fight as one of her toughest.
At One Championship “Unstoppable Dreams,” Angela eked out a unanimous decision victory over Mei Yamaguchi in a fight some thought could have gone either way. But before this encounter, Angela considers her first amateur bout as her toughest, mainly because of the nerves that went with it. After all, she had already built a solid reputation being an amateur mixed martial champion, as well as a pankration world champion and state wrestling champion. In said amateur fight, she submitted her much larger opponent with an armbar.
3. She just received her black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Training out of Evolve MMA in Singapore and United MMA and Fitness Center in Hawaii, Lee is able to share the mats with the excellent martial artists of every discipline. One of them is third-degree black belt Mike Fowler, who awarded her and brother Christian their Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt just this February.
4. The WMMA awarded her with ‘Submission of the Year’ award.
Lee truly made heads turn in 2015 when she submitted Natalie Gonzales Hills with a rare twister at One Championship 33 “Pride of Lions.” For the feat, she received the “Submission of the Year” award from Women’s Mixed Martial Arts (WMMA). It was only her third professional fight, having debuted that same year. After four submission wins in as many appearances, the news website gave her the “Newcomer of the Year” award.
5. She appreciates different kinds of music.
Lee loves variety in her music but favors electronic dance and counts Kygo as one of her favorite DJs. In addition, she likes reggae and old school rap and finds herself shying away from radio music. She, however, would sit and listen to anything mellow any day, particularly songs from John Mayer, Jack Johnson and Michael Buble.