Atomweight star “Unstoppable” Angela Lee fighting for the One Championship promotion, is on top of the world right now at just 24-years old, and is probably yet to reach her prime.
Coming from a very interesting mixed background, she holds dual Canadian-American citizenship status, with Chinese-Singaporean and Korean heritage. She spent most of her upbringing in Hawaii, where she started training in martial arts from the age of 6. Fighting has always been in her blood, with both her parents also being martial artists – her younger brother, Christian is an MMA fighter too.
Lee holds black belts in both Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and is exploding as a star in Singapore, with ONE Championship often credited as being exceptional at showcasing fighters in the lighter weight classes.
Despite her young age, Lee has already begun to define a legacy, winning five championship bouts and being recognised as perhaps one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters today.
With her professional record being built entirely at ONE Championship, there’s no shortage of footage when it comes to breaking down her impressive, yet still very young career. So, without further ado, let’s countdown 5 of the most technically stunning MMA Finishes from the ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee (in descending order)!
- Vs. Aya Saber — ONE Championship: Warrior’s Quest (May 22, 2015)
- Vs. Istela Nunes — ONE Championship: Dynasty of Heroes (May 26, 2017)
- Vs. Jenny Huang — ONE Championship: Warrior Kingdom (March 11, 2017)
- Vs. Natalie Gonzales Hills — ONE Championship: Pride of Lions (Nov. 13, 2015)
- Vs. Xiong Jingnan 2 — ONE Championship: Century Part 1 (Oct. 13, 2019)
So how does a 19-year old Angela Lee do in her professional debut against a much more experienced fighter on a ONE stage? Well, she makes it look easy.
In what could be looked at as very Ronda Rousey-esque, Lee wasted no time going straight after Aya Saber. After a short trade of wild punches, Lee caught Saber in the clinch, and executed a perfect hip toss.
She showed a superior ground game, transitioning into full mount very easily, shortly before taking her arm for the straight arm bar finish, with Saber tapping out at 1 minute, 43 seconds of the first round.
It was about as impressive and dominant a debut performance could be, and was only a sign of greater things to come for a very young Lee.
Many didn’t expect anything other than an impressive finish that had become typical of Lee by this point. She was 8-0 with a well-established dominance over the atomweight division.
To Lee however, this victory overcame a mass of odds for her. Not only was Nunes a very dangerous fighter with a devastating Muay Thai game, doctors had diagnosed Lee with pneumonia just a week out from this scheduled fight night.
For what would seem as impossible, Lee dominated most of the fight on the ground, eventually catching Nunes in a deep anaconda choke, submitting her in the second round.
The victory, and her second title defence, quite obviously meant so much to Lee, as it showed the true strength and ultimate triumph of her warrior-fighter’s heart as well as her skill set.
Lee’s ‘Unstoppable’ reputation was cemented in her first title defence against judo specialist Jenny Huang.
Right from the beginning, Lee demonstrated a relentless pace, backing Huang up to the fence for much of the stand-up exchanges. It was clear that after her first championship victory which went the distance, she was eager to make a statement.
That statement came in the third round, when after smothering Huang unmercifully in full mount, she landed a barrage of strikes to earn her first TKO victory. She’d also hand Jenny Huang her first career loss.
It’s a very rare treat in MMA and grappling to see someone pull off a twister submission finish, so for Angela Lee, scoring one on her third professional bout made quite the impression.
Lee by this point was recognised as a grappling specialist, and Hills was able to enjoy some early success on the feet, controlling clinch battles with some solid punches and knees.
Hills actually initiated the takedown that would see the rest of the fight take place on the ground, but after maintaining top position for a limited time, Lee was able to reverse this position.
After hooking the left leg of Hills, the crowd roared as it became apparent Lee was setting up a beautiful twister, and another first round finish.
After Xiong Jingnan shockingly stopped the Unstoppable in Lee’s strawweight jump earlier in 2019, many started to dismiss the latter’s legacy as one of the best in the game.
Since Lee was offered the opportunity to go straight after the strawweight title in her 115lb debut, it only seemed fitting that she returned the favour to the victor after her loss.
This time it was Xiong cutting down to atomweight in an attempt to gain double-champion status, but a hungry, determined Lee was about to show that she still ruled the atomweight roost.
In a very competitive contest, both fighters dug deep and displayed tremendous heart and courage. However, an incredible fifth-round suplex by Lee would give her Xiong’s back for the finish. With 12 seconds to go, a tightly cinched-in rear naked choke was exactly what Lee needed to put the ultra-resilient Xiong away – a performance for the ages!
