Angela Lee wasn’t surprised to see Stamp Fairtex emerge as her next title challenger.
Fairtex (8-1) defeated Alyona Rassohyna, Julie Mezabarba and Ritu Phogat to win the ONE atomweight world grand prix and earned her shot at reigning champ Lee (10-2) in Saturday’s ONE X main event, which takes place in Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
“I thought she would be a strong contender in the grand prix tournament,” Lee told MMA Junkie Radio. “And obviously I followed her journey in the tournament and she did super well and she ended up winning so it was just a matter of time and I was super excited to know who my opponent was, and I just wanted to know when it was gonna go down.”
Lee, who recently gave birth to a baby girl, will return to competition for the first time in more than two years. At 25, Lee has already accomplished a lot, but being a mother has given her a new added drive going into fight night.
“Definitely now that I’m a mom life and what I fight for is different,” Lee said. “I’m not just fighting for myself, I’m fighting for my daughter, my family, and I definitely want to show her what I love to do, what I’m good at and what I can accomplish. I want to set a good example for her. When she grows up, I want to be someone she can be proud of and say, ‘That’s my mom,’ so I’m just gonna go out there on Saturday night and I want to do my best for her.”
Check out Lee’s complete ONE X pre-fight interview with MMA Junkie Radio above.
ONE X: Angela Lee knew she’d eventually face ‘strong contender’ Stamp Fairtex