Vancouver-born Angela Lee defends MMA crown, brother Christian loses title shot

“Tonight was a huge night for my family, regardless of the outcome,” Angela said in her post-fight interview in the cage.

“You know, you guys don’t realize how tough it is to be inside this ring and do what we do. I couldn’t get the finish tonight because Mei is an incredibly tough opponent. She’s very skilled, has a ton of experience. Major props to Mei …. An amazing fight.”

The card marked her first fight since May 26, 2017. A Nov. 24 date with Yamaguchi was derailed when Lee was in a car crash.

The accident occurred Nov. 6 in Hawaii when Lee left her home at around 4:30 a.m. to drive to her nearby gym. The 21-year-old dozed off and hit the guardrail before flipping over some six times. Lee (9-0-0) escaped serious injury, returned to training in January.

Lee won a unanimous decision over the 35-year-old Yamaguchi in May 2016 to win the Asia-based MMA promotion’s first female title. The atomweight division covers 105 to 115 pounds.

Yamaguchi (17-11-1) walked first to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” Lee, wrapped in the Singapore flag, followed to the sounds of “Unstoppable” by Sia

Christian Lee, like his sister born in Vancouver, also came into the cage under the Singapore flag. The siblings divide their time between their family’s Hawaii home and a training base in Singapore.

Angela Lee took the middle of the cage from the get-go, firing knees from the clinch when they got close.

In the second round, she took Yamaguchi down with an outside trip. The smaller, stockier Japanese fighter had to fight off an armbar attempt as she got up, with Lee hanging upside down. Yamaguchi survived and then found herself on top of Lee.

There was more action in the third and fourth as Yamaguchi grabbed hold of Lee’s leg on kicks to put her down.

In the fifth, Yamaguchi came out fast and knocked Lee down with a kick. On her back. Lee tried to control Yamaguchi’s posture to limit the damage as the two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts jockeyed for position.

Lee tried for a submission off her back and fought her way up to her feet at the fence in the final minute. Yamaguchi landed another takedown, but Lee got right back up.

In the co-main event, Christian Lee took Nguyen down with three minutes left in the opening round and worked is way into full mount. Nguyen, 29, got up and had to fight off several choke attempts as he got to his feet.

Nguyen (11-2-0) stalked 19-year-old Lee most of the fight, with the challenger looking to counter-attack or take him down when the two got close.

Lee (9-2-0) had only gone past two rounds once before in his career and seemed to tire as the fight wore on. Nguyen’s powerful right hand and regular leg kicks didn’t help his stamina.

Nguyen came into the card holding both the promotion’s featherweight (145-pound) and lightweight (155-pound) titles. His attempt to add the bantamweight (135-pound) crown failed in March when he lost a split decision to Vancouver-based Bibiano (The Flash) Fernandes.

The Lee siblings come from a fighting family. Father Ken and mother Jewelz are decorated martial artists who teach at their United MMA gym in Waipahu, Hawaii, where Angela and Christian are instructors.

Ken was born in Singapore and Jewelz in South Korea. She moved to Hawaii at a young age while he came to Canada at the age of four. They met in Hawaii when Ken went there for high school, moving to Canada after graduation and eventually marrying.

Angela, who has dual Canadian-American citizenship, lived in Vancouver and elsewhere in Canada until she was seven, when the family returned to Hawaii.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Vancouver-born Angela Lee defends MMA crown, brother Christian loses title shot

What's Trending