Hawaii’s Angela Lee returns to defend her ONE Championship title this Friday in first fight since becoming a Mother
2 min readFor the first time since October of 2019, Hawaii’s Angela Lee will return to the cage as the only atomweight title holder in ONE Championship history will defend her title in Singapore on Friday morning.
The 25 year old who will also be fighting for the first time as a mother, will face off against number one contender and grand prix championship winner Stamp Fairtex in the main event of ONE Championship’s 10 year anniversary card billed as ONE X.
In her already illustrious career, the Mililani native is 10-2 having successfully defended her crown three times since winning the strap back in 2016. Without a doubt though, she calls the upcoming bout her toughest challenge to date but brings the passion and pride of being Mom to 11 month old Ava.
“Definitely, becoming a mother, it pushes you, stretches you. I’ve grown so much. learned so much. There are days where she didn’t have a good night of sleep, which means that I didn’t have a good night of sleep and we come into the gym and training has to get done and there are days where it is tiring and I’m exhausted, but we just manage to find a way, said Lee.”
Since returning to the mat following the birth of her first child, Lee has been focused on the matchup that many identified years ago as an inevitable matchup and despite the adjustments that have needed to be made to her sleep and post training schedule feels that the adversities of balancing her career and motherhood has made her stronger.
“In between training sessions I’m with my daughter and if she napped earlier that means I don’t get to nap, but that’s okay. I feel really good. I feel stronger than I have ever been and that’s all thanks to this one right here,” said Lee.
The main card of ONE X is scheduled to start at 2:00am HST on Friday with the co-headliner being former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson facing Thailand’s Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
Lee’s opponent Stamp Fairtex is 8-1 in her MMA career, but is a former ONE Super Series Atomweight Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion.
“If I think about it long enough I start to get butterflies and it’s crazy. Almost three years and I’m excited to be back. I love that feeling, that rush, the adrenaline when the stakes are at the highest, so I’m excited to go out there and test myself and show Ava what her mom can do.”
To purchase and watch the ONE X pay-per-view on Friday, click here.
