Angela Lee credits her success to her team
In reaching for our goals, surrounding ourselves with the right people can lead us to the right direction.
ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee is a living testament to this notion.
The 22-year-old, who is a perfect 9-0 in her mixed martial arts career, is on the cusp of making history as she attempts to become the first two-division female World Champion in ONE Championship.
To achieve this feat, she will need to beat ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan at ONE: A NEW ERA.
Despite her impressive accolades in the cage, Lee would be first to admit that she did not do them alone. She had guidance in the form of her parents, her brother Christian Lee, and her husband Bruno Pucci.
“You need a team around you because everyone is going to have a different point of view,” the Singaporean explains.
“Everyone is going to have a different opinion and when we make decisions — whether it’s my fight camp, Christian’s, or Bruno’s — we always make them as a family.
“Christian can speak into my life, and so can my mom, my dad, and Bruno. That’s usually how we make our decisions. It’s not a dictatorship. It’s important to let people have their opinion and talk to you about it.
“Those are the people who care about you, and those are the people who know you the best. It’s important you give them a voice.”
Their inputs were valuable when Lee was faced with a difficult decision back in November, when her originally scheduled bout with “The Panda” was derailed by an unexpected injury.
Lee’s competitive spirit fueled her desire to push through the pain, but she ultimately decided against it after careful consideration.
“It’s about being honest with yourself, and that’s a huge part of martial arts. That’s something I had to learn growing up,” the superstar explains.
“At the end of the day, you can fake it to everyone and say, ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ But you can’t fake it to yourself. Is it doing something good or is it doing something bad?
“Of course, as a fighter, we try to have that tough mindset of pushing through. But there comes a point where you’ve just got to take a step back, be honest with yourself, and say, ‘Hey, this isn’t the time for me to do this right now. I need to take a break and do the smart thing for my body so I can have a long career.’ Or else, you could end up making it worse.”
The Singaporean’s patience will soon pay off, as she will finally get the chance to challenge Xiong in the historic bout at ONE: A NEW ERA on Sunday, 31 March.
She will head to Tokyo, Japan with a fully healed body and an even more refined game plan.
Meanwhile, her Chinese rival is coming into the contest with full confidence that she can stop “The Unstoppable.”
Lee knows the great obstacle she has to hurdle, but with her team behind her, Xiong will see why she earned her nickname when they finally face each other in the ONE cage.
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