ONE Championship 161: Tiffany Teo slams Angela Lee after making statement on atomweight debut
- Former strawweight challenger taps out Ritu Phogat inside one round on atomweight debut at ONE 161 on Thursday in Singapore
- ‘No Chill’ immediately sets sights on division’s long-time champion, blasting decision to give Lee another crack at strawweight title
Tiffany Teo is in hot pursuit of Angela Lee – in two ONE Championship weight classes.
The 32-year-old Singaporean, who has twice fought for strawweight gold, made her atomweight debut at ONE 161 on Thursday evening in Singapore, and ended up making quite a statement, tapping out Grand Prix finalist Ritu Phogat in the first round.
After her win, she called out the atomweight champion Lee. Yet if Lee defeats strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan at ONE on Prime Video 2 this Saturday, Teo could seemingly challenge the Canadian-American for the belt in either weight class.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she told the Post in Singapore, looking ahead to Lee’s fight with Xiong, which will headline Saturday’s card. “She’s fighting Xiong for the strawweight title. We’ll see how that plays out. I’m the top contender at strawweight, and now I’m at atomweight, so it has to happen either way.”
Some may argue that Teo (11-2) is undeserving of an atomweight title shot after just one win in the weight class, but the Singaporean notes that Lee (11-2) is fighting for the strawweight belt despite having lost to Xiong and Michelle Nicolini in her only two fights in the weight class.
“Let’s look at Angela,” she said. “She got her a** kicked in strawweight. Michelle beat her. ‘Panda’ [Xiong] beat her. She’s probably ranked like four or five. I don’t even know if she’s even ranked. She comes back, and she gets a shot for the strawweight title.”
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“I want my shot at atomweight,” she added. “I think I deserve a shot at atomweight.”
Teo could miss out on an atomweight title shot with several fighters in contention in the division at the moment. Chief among them will be the winner of a ONE on Prime Video 2 clash between No 1 and 5-ranked contenders Stamp Fairtex and Jihin Radzuan.
“I’m definitely going to stay tuned on the fights happening this weekend,” Teo said.
While Teo now finds herself on the verge of title contention in two divisions, her first priority is enjoying one of the biggest wins of her career to date.
“Striking, wrestling, even MMA wrestling – I was better than her in everything,” she said of her Thursday victory over Phogat.
“She did land a couple of overhands, and I was like right, need to get my range right. It took me a while to get my range and distance. After that it’s all domination I guess.”
Before her win over Phogat, Teo defeated former atomweight contender Meng Bo at strawweight. That win was preceded by a loss to Xiong in a failed bid for the division’s top prize.
Saturday’s ONE on Prime Video 2 event will mark Xiong (17-2) and Lee’s third meeting. Xiong won the first encounter, at strawweight, by fifth-round TKO. Lee won the rematch, at atomweight, by fifth-round submission.
