Angela Lee announces immediate retirement from MMA

Ahead of the ONE Fight Night 14 main event on Friday night, Angela Lee shocked the world by announcing that she will no longer compete in mixed martial arts. The immediate retirement meant that her ONE atomweight title was now up for grabs and Stamp Fairtex vs. Seo Hee Ham would now compete for undisputed gold—as opposed to the interim belt they were originally fighting for.

After 10 minutes of action, Fairtex walked away with the TKO victory and was named the new ONE 155 lbs champion. The new queen of the atomweight’s has just two losses in her career, with one coming via rear naked choke in her 2022 clash with the aforementioned Angela Lee.

Lee comes from a family of fighters but the death of her late and great little sister, Victoria, spurred her decision to walk away from the sport. Victoria Lee, dubbed ‘The Prodigy’, began her MMA journey with a perfect three wins and zero losses before her unfortunate passing last year.

Although uncertainty surrounded her death, it was revealed earlier this year that she took her own life at the age of 18. Mental health struggles affect millions and fighters are no different. Angela Lee herself admitted to having suicidal thoughts and acted on them back in 2017, though she was lucky to escape with her life.

Related: ONE Championship’s Victoria Lee dead at age 18

Announcing her retirement, Angela Lee spoke with ESPN to go over the reason why she made her decision and what’s next for her in life.

“I will be retiring from MMA and the main event on ONE Fight Night 14 is gonna be for the real atomweight belt,” Lee said while speaking with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. “For me, it’s been a crazy journey and I have nothing but love for this sport, for ONE Championship, for MMA… I don’t have the heart for it. I don’t have the heart to step in there again and I know that might sound corny or whatever but if you follow your heart, it will always lead you in the right direction. That’s how I know I’m making the right decision, you know, choosing to retire now at this moment. For me, I’m really proud of what I’ve done and I don’t have any regrets. It’s been a really great career so I can just look back on it and smile.”

‘Unstoppable’ was regarded as one of the biggest talents outside of the UFC and at just age 27, she still has a lot of room to grow in the sport. While she is done with the sport for now, she did claim that as the years go by, things could potentially change.

Angela Lee will now focus her time on Fight Story. The non-profit is a program that intends to aid those struggling with mental health issues, not only fighters but everybody around the world.