“I think Angela is incredible and I was crying so hard when I saw all of those videos of everything.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA — Ilima-Lei Macfarlane was hit with all the feels when Hawaii’s Angela Lee made her recent announcement.
ONE Fight Night 14 took place in the promotion’s return to Kallang, Singapore, featuring a big vacant title fight between 115-pound Atomweight stars, Stamp Fairtex and Seo Hee Ham, last weekend (Fri., Sept. 29, 2023). The reason for said title fight boiled down to the fact that the division’s longtime champion, Lee, was calling it a career.
The Lee family suffered an unfortunate loss to close 2022 in the form of Lee’s 18-year-old sister, Victoria, passing away. Lee revealed this past week that her sister’s death resulted from suicide and that she too threatened to take her own life when involved in her 2017 car crash that sidelined her from competition for the better part of that year. Lee, 27, will now put her focus on Fight Story, her nonprofit organization on mental health by sharing the stories and struggles of others. For the former Bellator Flyweight champion and Hawaii native, Macfarlane, the whole saga has been an emotional one to watch unfold.
“I think Angela is incredible and I was crying so hard when I saw all of those videos of everything,” Macfarlane told MMA Mania. “Of her announcement of fight story, her nonprofit that she’s gonna be focusing on in this next chapter to her telling the girls that she was gonna be retiring, I cried through it all.
“I think that as tragic as what happened to her and her family, I think that she is going to be honoring Victoria in the best way possible by doing the work she’s doing now and she’s gonna be saving a lot of lives,” she concluded. “So best of luck to her. Me and her, we keep in touch. I know that our paths will cross again. You know, we’ll see each other and all the love in the world to her.”
While Lee moves on from mixed martial arts (MMA), Macfarlane seeks her second title reign as Bellator’s 125-pound queenpin. Tasked with the current champion, Liz Carmouche, in her next fight, a Macfarlane victory over her longtime friend and former teammate won’t be her last as she previously hinted. The pair collide at Bellator 300 this weekend (Sat., Oct. 7, 2023).
“You know, plans change. Plans totally change,” Macfarlane said. “I know that I felt one way last April, springtime, but everything feels good and I’m just like, happy to be here. I’m grateful to be here. It’s a drug and you’re just like, ‘I want more!’ So, yes. Honestly, I don’t think I’m gonna retire right now. Regardless, if I win or lose, I don’t think it’s time yet. I know when it’s gonna be time.”
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