ONE Championship: Angela Lee ‘officially’ kicks off fight camp in Hawaii, brings in Bellator’s Kana Watanabe
- Lee has not fought since she returned from a lengthy hiatus with a submission win over Stamp Fairtex at ONE X in March
- Atomweight queen has begun training for her next fight alongside Japan’s Watanabe, but has not yet revealed her opponent
Angela Lee has commenced training for her next fight. And while her opponent has not yet been revealed, her choice of training partners suggests she is expecting a tough challenge.
Over the weekend, the reigning ONE Championship atomweight MMA queen took to Instagram to reveal she has she “officially” started preparing for a mystery opponent at her training home of United MMA in Hawaii, and that she has called upon Bellator MMA star Kana Watanabe to help.
“Fight camp has officially begun,” the 26-year-old Canadian-American wrote, challenging her followers to guess who she is fighting. “Happy to have [Watanabe] here in Hawaii with me for the next few weeks!”
Japan’s Watanabe (11-1), is the No 2-ranked contender in Bellator’s flyweight division, and the No 8 fighter in the promotion’s official women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Lee (11-2) seemingly has two primary options for her next fight. The first is a title defence against 35-year-old South Korean veteran Ham Seo-hee (25-8), who cemented herself as the top atomweight contender with a decision victory over Denice Zamboanga in March.
ONE: Danielle Kelly says Angela Lee grappling match is ‘easy money’
The other is a blockbuster trilogy fight with ONE’s reigning strawweight champion, Xiong Jingnan (17-2). Lee has fought the 34-year-old Chinese champion twice before, losing the first fight by fifth-round TKO up at strawweight, and winning the second, at atomweight, by fifth-round submission.
One way or the other, she will enter the cage with plenty of momentum behind her.
Lee was back in action in the main event of ONE X in March in Singapore, where she weathered some early adversity to defend her belt with a second-round submission win over Stamp Fairtex.
The victory marked her fifth defence of the ONE atomweight title, and her first since she gave birth to her first child last year.
“I’m so happy to be back,” she told the media assembled in Singapore, including the Post, after her win over Stamp. “I’m far from done. This is just the beginning of a new era, a new reign. I’m just looking forward to making history. Mom champ.”
