Angela Lee was always among the list of fighters that mixed martial arts (MMA) fans wanted to see in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) one day.
The former ONE Championship 115-pound Atomweight champion made history when she became the youngest fighter in MMA history to hold a major world title. Lee, 28, captured gold at age 19 when she earned a unanimous decision over her veteran counterpart, Mei Yamaguchi, in May 2016. The fight would be the first of several all-time classics Lee had in her epic 14-fight career (11-3).
Unfortunately for fans, Lee retired after the tragic loss of her younger sister, Victoria Lee, in 2023. In reflection, “Unstoppable” admits she always thought about what it would have been like to have any of her fights outside of the ONE cage, specifically in UFC.
“I think if you ask any fighter, any champion, they wanna go out and test themselves,” Lee told Demetrious Johnson. “That’s what it means to be a fighter. You’re always looking for the next challenge. If you ask any of them, yes, 100 percent, they would love to go and fight the best of the best and really find out who was No. 1.
“It’s come across my mind multiple times, of course, seeing the top-level fighters in other organizations,” she continued. “Looking back now, it’s really hard because when you’re in the organization, especially at the top, it’s such a scary thing to go out and jump ship or try.”
Lee successfully defended her Atomweight title five times before she left MMA. In that time, she went through several troubles outside the cage, mentally and physically, along with becoming a mother. The final nail in her career’s coffin was simply admitting her passion was no longer what it once was.
“I told myself, I love it, I love it, I love it, for so long,” Lee said. “After a while, I wasn’t really honest with myself about like, ‘Hey, I think I might be getting burnt out. Hey, this is not really fun anymore. I want a break.’ But I didn’t know how to or … I did voice it up to my team and my family, but there was some disagreement about, ‘Hey, this is not really the time to do that and this and that.’”