MMA’s Lee to miss defence after car crash
ASI A N mi xed mar t ia l a r t s f ighter Angela Lee has been i nju red i n a c a r c r a sh i n Hawaii, forcing her to wit hdraw f rom her atomweig ht title defence at ONE: Immortal Pursuit on November 24, the Singapore-based promotion said yesterday.
Lee, 21, will make a full recovery from the accident, which happened early on Tuesday when she fell asleep while driving to the gym in Hawaii where she was training, ONE Championship founder Chatri Sityodtong said on Facebook.
He said the car flipped over several times and was left a “complete wreck” but added: “Miraculously, she survived with only a concussion, some minor burns, and a banged up body.
“If she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, it would have most certainly been a different story.”
He called on supporters to send “love, prayers and positive energy to Angela and her family”.
He said the fighter, of Korean and Singaporean descent, would not compete this month when she had been due to defend her ONE belt.
She had been training in Hawaii for her third t i t l e defence in Singapore.
Lee first won the crown when she beat Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi in 2016, and had been due to face Yamaguchi in this month’s title defence.
Lee holds a 8-0 record in her MMA career, with six wins by submission. She is one of the top names on ONE’s stable of fighters, which tries to promote homegrown fighters from across the Asia region.
The main muscle behind Asia’s MMA explosion, ONE claims 90 percent of the region’s market share.