When Angela Lee steps foot inside the ONE Championship Circle on Saturday, March 26, at ONE X, it will be her first time in action since October 2019. The United MMA star welcomed her first daughter in her time away from the sport but is ready to return and show the world that she hasn’t missed a beat.
Bruno Pucci Talks Renewed ‘Spark’ For Wife, Angela Lee
When the bell rings this time, it will be former kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion Stamp Fairtex who is eyeing her ONE Atomweight World Championship.
The man at the forefront of Lee’s return is her husband, Bruno Pucci. As first-time parents, both Pucci and Lee have navigated the waters back into training with baby Ava in tow.
“She’s happy when she’s all over the mat because she loves to watch the training. When I’m teaching the kids classes too, she likes to be around. She’s clapping her hands and screaming out loud,” said Pucci.
But it was not all rainbows and sunshine. As Angela Lee returned to the mat, the demands of parenthood beckoned. Thankfully, United MMA is a family gym and Lee’s brother, Christian, also welcomed a baby, Alia, to the world. With aunts, uncles, and grandparents there to help, it made for a positive environment for all.
“I will not lie. In the beginning, it was a little bit difficult. Now the baby is 11 months old. Sometimes it’s hard because Ava just wants her mom, and when she sees Angela, she starts to cry, [she would be like] I want to go, I want to go. But she has to wait because mommy is training,” said Pucci.
“So I think that was the most challenging. Asides from that, I think we have other people from the family around, like Angela’s mom, Christian, and Katie. So it is a kind of tag-team according to the needs. So if I need to step up and help Angela with something, then I know her mom and Christian’s wife are there.”
“Everybody is very happy—[There are] babies around, there’s no way to be sad around the babies. But I feel that, when everybody trains in your family, you have that trust. And I think that’s the main thing because everybody trusts each other, everybody cares for each other. There are no mixed feelings that sometimes you can have in other places. When you have this kind of trust, I think there’s no way to fail.”
By all accounts, Lee is returning in peak condition.
Although the reigning atomweight queen has been away from the Circle for two years, she is in the best pre-match shape she has ever been in. And it is all thanks to her daughter, according to Angela Lee and Bruno Pucci.
“I think it was the best thing ever for Angela because in the past few fights when she was fighting at atomweight, it was pretty hard for her to make weight, and it was a really slow descent. So it was hard even to keep training. She’ll be like, oh, I got to do the run and sweat, and that’s the energy that I have for today. Like, I can’t even like spar or grapple,” said the Brazilian.
“And this time, it was crazy because the pregnancy kind of changed her eating habits. That’s the first thing. And so she has new healthy habits. So I think everything together, it came into the cycle that her weight is really good.”
“And the most interesting thing is that she has energy. She has managed to do two or three sessions a day, which is great. And a couple of times, we are at home, and she’ll say: look, I have abs now, I never had abs before.”
Being in prime shape will be critical if she intends to keep the ONE Atomweight World Championship around her waist.
In her absence, Stamp rose to become the top contender. While the former kickboxing and Muay Thai titleholder used her elite striking, it was her grappling that notched her the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship.
But Pucci believes that since both women are well-rounded and in a mixed martial arts bout, it can open the door for the 25-year-old to knockout the striking sensation.
“I think she can definitely finish her on the feet because it’s a chess game. People just look at the credentials, right? But in terms of when you actually put the skills together, it’s a chess match,” said the BJJ standout.
“So there are a lot of X factors that we can put out in the fight. And I think that’s going to be the difference. They have proven to be on a high level. Stamp didn’t only win striking titles, but she won the Grand Prix belt, which is a big title for MMA.”
“I think Angela’s going to have a fast finish in the first round. The way we train at United MMA is to get a fast finish. And because we train like that, there’s nothing safer than getting the quick finish, and my bet is on a submission. But it can be standing up as well.”
And it is not just her physical skills that are sharp, according to the 31-year-old. Pucci also noted that Angela Lee is a student of the game, a life-long martial artist who has kept her mind sharp by watching the atomweight division grow during her time away.
Now, as a mother, she has found new motivation to put everything together at ONE X.
“She’s so motivated because of Ava, because of the story behind it. Like, you know, now I’m a mom, now I want to make my daughter proud. There are so many good reasons for that,” claimed Pucci.
“I feel that sparked her fire again. Because I feel like fighting is a seasonal job, and sometimes you reach the pinnacle of the sport early, and she’s defended her title four times already, and this will be the fifth.”
And then it’s kind of doing the same thing over and over and over. So, where is the new motivation? You always have to have a reason, like, why am I doing this, why am I still doing this? And I think, being a mom, and this new reason that she has, I think it just turned the game for her, I think it just made her even more ready.”
Angela Lee will get a chance to prove that to be the case in the main event of one of the most spectacular cards in martial arts history. ONE X, a stacked 20-bout event showcasing the best in the world, ends with “Unstoppable” meeting Stamp for the gold.
ONE X airs live on Saturday, March 26, beginning with ONE X: Part I at 1:00 a.m. ET/10:00 p.m. PT on watch.onefc.com.
ONE X: Part II begins at 5:00 a.m. ET/2:00 a.m. PT.
ONE X: Grand Finale concludes the evening on pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com at 8:00 a.m. ET/5:00 a.m. PT.
