Two years away from competition was no problem at all for ONE Championship 115-pound Atomweight champion Angela Lee.
Returning from maternity leave, Lee headlined the promotion’s 10-year anniversary spectacular, ONE: X when she defeated Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex. The champion had to overcome some early adversity as Stamp connected with a pinpoint punch to the liver. Briefly crippled, Lee showed why she’s the champion and survived to round two where she applied submission after submission until sinking in a rear-naked choke with 10 seconds remaining in the round.
“I think she was really well prepared,” Lee told MMAMania.com. “I could see the game plan her camp put together for her and they did really well with that. I think she was definitely a tough opponent. She had no quit in her, that twister was in pretty good and she managed to keep surviving, scrambling on the ground. But me and my team knew that’s where we’d have the advantage.”
Because of the bout’s high-stake implications, Lee didn’t expect her challenger to succumb to any joint or pain submissions. As tough of a hill as the former Muay Thai titlist may have been to climb, Lee still has her work cut out for her going forward.
Also competing that night was the legendary Seo Hee Ham who made her second appearance in ONE Championship. Rematching Denice Zamboanga, Korea’s finest left no doubt this time around when picking up another unanimous decision nod over the Phillippines native.
Undefeated since parting ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2016, Ham (25-8) rides the best streak of her career with eight straight victories and is expected to be next in line for a shot at “Unstoppable.”
“I was glad she was able to push through and dominate the rest of the fight. I was impressed, she’s a tough girl,” Lee said of Ham.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize or forgot she’s been competing for a while. She’s a veteran in the sport and one of the pioneers for women’s MMA in Korea. So I think there’s a lot of hype going into this fight — potential matchup. I look forward to competing against her and seeing how things go inside the cage. So definitely very excited for that.”
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