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ONE Championship legend Angela Lee is set to retire from MMA.
The ONE Championship star, who has been with the promotion for a long time, retired from MMA and gave up her ONE 115-pound title on Friday night at ONE Fight Night 14 in Singapore. Lee made this decision after she shared in a Players Tribune essay that she tried to kill herself in a car crash in 2017 and that her sister Victoria Lee, who was 18 years old, died by suicide in 2022.
Lee has suffered a lot because of these events, which led her to end her fighting career and hang up her gloves.
“This year has been the most difficult year of my life,” Lee said with tears in her eyes. “I’m trying to move on and rebuild my life.”
“I’m here today to officially announce my retirement. It has been an amazing eight years. I want to thank the fans, ONE Championship, Chatri [Sityodtong], my teams, and everyone else. I have faced many challenges, inside and outside the cage.
“The last thing I want to say is this: To the fighters and to everyone who is watching right now, the hardest battle we will ever face is not with an opponent who is standing in front of us. The hardest battle is with ourselves. We all have struggles, but we all fight. And every day, we are victorious when we decide to overcome adversity. Thank you so much, I love you. Thank you.”
Lee grew up in a martial arts family and started competing in Pankration tournaments and learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu when she was very young. Lee later switched to MMA, where she joined ONE Championship when she was only 18 years old. She had an immediate impact with the promotion.
Lee won five consecutive fights to start her career and then became the first ONE 115-pound champion in 2016 when she was only 19 years old. She defended her title five times in her career and also competed in several fights at 125 pounds. Lee fought for the last time in October 2022, losing a decision to the current ONE 125-pound champion Xiong Jingnan in a third fight after they each won one of the previous two fights.
After her sister’s death, Lee took a long break from the sport. ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong said before that she was thinking about retiring, but she did not make it official until Friday. Lee said that her goal now is to work with FightStory, a non-profit organization that she started in memory of Victoria that helps people share their own stories about mental health.
Lee’s career ends with an 11-3 record overall. She is still undefeated at 115 pounds.
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