ONE Championship titleholder Angela Lee retired somewhat unexpectedly Friday at ONE Fight Night 14.
The decision comes on the heels of a tell-all story with The Players’ Tribune in which Lee detailed a 2017 suicide attempt and revealed her 18-year-old sister Victoria Lee died by suicide in 2022.
Lee, 27, vacated the promotion’s 115-pound championship upon her announcement, which came right before a scheduled interim title fight between Stamp Fairtex and Seo Hee Ham. The retirement upgraded the interim title fight to an undisputed one. In the end, Fairtex took the hardware home by TKO.
In MMA, it’s not often fighters retire while on top – never mind while they’re so young, too. Lee is an unusual MMA case study, but will likely always be viewed as a superstar in the ONE Championship history books.
MMA Junkie’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, and Danny Segura joined host George Garcia break down Lee’s retirement, her legacy, and more.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full “Spinning Back Clique” episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.
