Angela Lee Relishes Hometown Advantage In Bid To Win Second World Title

In May 2016, Angela Lee made history as the youngest mixed martial artist to ever win a world title under the banner of a major organization in front of 12,000 jubilant fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium by defeating Mei Yamaguchi to capture the ONE women's atomweight championship.

On the morning of Saturday, October 1st (Friday evening, September 30 in the United States), Lee returns to the same showground where she had her career-defining moment over six years ago in a mission that could further cement her legacy.

The 26-year-old resident of Waipahu, Hawaii is slated to challenge Xiong Jing Nan for the strawweight championship in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 2.

"It stirs up a lot of different emotions. I am so familiar with the Singapore Indoor Stadium, walking through those halls and being in that environment," Lee stated in a recent interview.

"It's very, very familiar, so it feels right at home, and I know that I've gotten through this so many times. It's definitely going to be an iconic moment on October 1."

Both women are no strangers to each other, having fought twice in Tokyo, Japan in 2019.

Xiong drew first blood in their March 2019 first encounter, spoiling Lee's bid to become a two-division MMA world champion by scoring a fifth-round technical knockout.

Lee's atomweight trinket was on the line in the rematch seven months later, but this time, "Unstoppable" came out victorious by submitting Xiong in the fifth round with a rear-naked choke.

Unlike their first two meetings inside the cage, the third and final joust in their intense rivalry will not get the benefit of neutral territory as the rubber match is set to be contested at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Lee, whose father and trainer is Chinese-Singaporean, relishes the opportunity to get some semblance of a hometown advantage on her date with Xiong this weekend.

"It was nice fighting Xiong in Tokyo. That was the first time that ONE ever went to Japan. And it was a very cool and new experience. But I love fighting in Singapore. I feel like I always have the hometown advantage," she said.

Despite being born in Canada and living in Hawaii, Lee takes pride in representing her Singaporean heritage.

"My dad was born in Singapore. It's just in my blood. So it doesn't matter where I live or where I was born. It's part of who I am, [It's] in my blood, my race, who I am," she stated.

"I'm half-Korean, half-Chinese-Singaporean. I feel totally comfortable with who I am now and representing all the different places that make me who I am."

With a chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the UFC's Amanda Nunes as the only women in history to simultaneously hold world titles in two separate weight classes, Lee plans to leave no stone unturned.

"You know what, I am looking at it like [I have to defend my home turf]. Because capturing the second title, becoming champ-champ, this is what I've been after for so many years," she stressed.

"Now is finally the right time, everything's lined up, and I need to capitalize on this moment and capture it because if I don't, I'm not going to get [another] chance to fight for this belt," Lee continued.

"So I'm looking at it as, 'This is my last shot.' And of course, she's going to be defending it with all she's got. But I know that I'm going to be stealing this belt from her."