Angela Lee’s first attempt to become a two-division champion may have fallen short, but she hasn’t given up on her pursuit just yet.
Reigning ONE atomweight champion Lee (10-2), moved up in weight to challenge strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan last March, but was stopped in the fifth round.
She then lost out to Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Michelle Nicolini in another strawweight bout, before moving back to her original weight class and exacting revenge over Jingnan, who had moved down in her own bid to become a champ-champ.
But, despite being the undefeated champion at atomweight, Lee admitted she hasn’t relented in her quest to capture the strawweight title.
“You know what, I have to say the strawweight title is still stuck in my mind and it’s a goal that I will not stop chasing after,” Lee told MMA Junkie. “I feel like I can manage both divisions. I feel like, for my size, I fit in both divisions as well.”
Hawaii-based Lee has to make quite the trip each time she competes, flying halfway across the world to Asia, but Lee revealed that ONE has plans to make its U.S. debut in the near future, and she hopes to be a part of the card.
“I think 2020 was the year that ONE wanted to break into the U.S. market, so we’re right on the cusp,” Lee said. “For me to be on one of the U.S. shows would be awesome. I’ll be definitely putting my name down for that show, and, yeah, I can’t wait. It’s a whole new market, we’re going to be grabbing a lot more fight fans and I think the people in the U.S. are going to love the ONE Championship show.”
