Warrior Queen

Youngest-ever women’s mixed-martial-arts world champion ANGELA LEE talks with MATHEW SCOTT about how it feels to have your hand raised in victory.

- Mathew Scott

THE DISARMING SMILE only tells half the story when it comes to Angela Lee. So it’s best — for her opponents at least — not to be fooled.

Lee comes across like your regular 20-year-old, enjoying to its full a life spent with family and friends and trips to the white sand back near her home in Hawaii. It’s when Lee sets foot inside the Singapore gym she fights out of,or the cage in which mixed martial arts (MMA) is played out, that things change. There, she transforms into the warrior who last year became the youngest world champion in MMA history.

With victory over Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi 12 months ago, Lee claimed the ONE Championships’ world atom weight title. She followed that up this March with a demolition job over Taiwan’s Jenny Huang in Bangkok.

In the course of 12 months, Lee has become the undisputed star of the sport in Asia, with advertising contracts and a salary to match. She’s back in the cage on May 26 in Singapore for her second title defence — against Istela Nuñes of Brazil — as the headline on ONE’s Dynasty of Heroes card.

When we caught up with her, Lee explained what it means to be world champion, and how she hopes to be a role model for young women across Asia — and beyond.

HOW DID IT FEEL TO CLAIM THE TITLE?

Incredible. I couldn’t believe it at first, because it was such a tough fight. But I kept coming back, and all the hard work was worth it. It comes back to all the drills you do and the hours you spend in the gym and with your support team. To have your hand raised [in victory] — there’s no other feeling like it.