At ONE Fight Night 14, ONE Championship women’s atomweight champion Angela Lee officially announced her retirement.
“I’m here today to officially announce my retirement,” she said. “I just want to say thank you to the fans, to ONE Championship, to Chatri [Sityodtong], to my teams, and to everyone. There have been so many battles in and out of the cage.”
“The greatest battle that we ever face won’t be with an opponent standing in front of us,” Lee said at ONE Fight Night 14 following her announcement. “The greatest battle will be within ourselves. We all go through struggles, but we all fight. And each day, we are victorious and we choose to rise up in the face of adversity.”
The announcement comes on the eve of a battle for the ONE women’s atomweight championship, as Stamp Fairtex faces off against Ham Seo Hee.
Lee (11-3) fought her entire career under the ONE banner and won the inaugural atomweight women’s championship in her sixth pro fight. She earned a decision victory over Mei Yamaguchi to capture the title at ONE: Ascent to Power. That fight earned the 2018 Comeback of the Year award at the World MMA Awards.
The woman known as “Unstoppable” went on to defend the title an impressive five times.
She moved up to strawweight to challenge for that championship twice but unfortunately fell short.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has been the face of women’s MMA in ONE Championship since she began her career.
In December 2022, Angela Lee lost her sister, Victoria. And it changed her focus.
Lee created a foundation called Fightstory. Over the past few weeks, she has been doing the media rounds and opened up about her own mental health battles.
Fightstory was created in honor of Victoria and to help people overcome their own struggles by telling their personal stories.
Christian Lee, ONE lightweight and welterweight champion, will likely return to action in 2024.
