Mixed results for Canadian-born siblings at MMA card in Singapore
SINGAPORE Vancouver-born (Unstoppable) Angela Lee retained her One Championship atomweight title via unanimous decision Friday, but younger brother Christian Lee was denied in his bid for the featherweight MMA title.
Angela Lee had her hands full with Japanese veteran Mei (V.V.) Yamaguchi at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The champion spent most of the fifth round on her back with Yamaguchi all over her.
Christian Lee lost a split decision to defending champion Martin (The Situ-Asian) Nguyen of Australia in the co-main event of the “One: Unstoppable Dreams” card. Nguyen won by first-round submission when they first met in August 2016.
Angela was in her brother’s corner for Friday’s title fight. Christian returned the favour for the main event.
“Tonight was a huge night for my family, regardless of the outcome,” Angela said in her postfight 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 21year-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 35year-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 (1711-1) 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.
Nguyen (11-2-0) stalked 19year-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.