ONE In The Media

SINGAPORE – Angela Lee has hit back at claims that she is not good enough to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). One Championship’s women’s atomweight champion told The Straits Times yesterday: “I am confident in my skills, I can compete against any of the top fighters you put me in a fight with. I know I’m the best pound-for-pound fighter.”

With Singapore emerging as Asia’s hub for mixed martial arts (MMA), two global MMA powerhouses in ONE Championship (ONE) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have gone head-to-head to determine who reigns supreme in the Lion City.

Now the vice-president of Singapore-based ONE, Franklin also believes Angela Lee “would do more than just hold her own” against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a battle between the champions of the rival promotions.

ONE Championship’s top executive issued a challenge to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — if you think you’re that good, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is. Chatri Sityodtong was irked by a comment made by UFC top official Joe Carr, who belittled the chances of ONE atomweight champion Angela Lee against UFC strawweight title-holder Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Chatri Sityodtong survived on a diet of budget Korean buffets while an undergraduate at Harvard. Now, the protean martial arts expert, former internet entrepreneur and one-time hedge fund manager wants to create the biggest and most lucrative sporting spectacle in Asia, the world’s most populous region.

After recently winning his fourth straight fight, Amir believes he is ready for a title shot. He took just 89 seconds to demolish his opponent, India’s Rajinder Singh Meena, at the ONE Championship’s Dynasty of Heroes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 26.

He may have had his dreams dashed but like a true fighter, Agilan Thani isn’t planning on staying down, writes Intan Maizura Ahmad Kamal

Myanmar Mixed Martial Arts (MMMA) champion Aung La N Sang will get another crack at the world middleweight title held by Russian Vitaly Bigdash – this time in front of his home crowd – on June 30 at the Thuwana Indoor Stadium in Yangon. It will be the second time the two will be meeting, the first being a closely contested affair last January which Aung La N Sang lost on points.

The meteoric rise of Angela Lee continued last Friday when she defeated Istela Nunes in her second title defence at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes. Lee dominated the fight from start to finish and showed great IQ by first negating the Brazilian’s stand up game and and then taking her down to the mat before finishing her with a slick anaconda choke. The win took Lee’s record to 8-0 as she continues to prove to the world that her ‘Unstoppable’ nickname is every bit warranted. And the young star insists she is not afraid of anyone, not even UFC queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

KUALA LUMPUR: Agilan Thani has reiterated that his defeat in the ONE Welterweight World Champ­ion­­ship fight was purely his own fault. “I worked so hard for the fight but I have no one to blame and I have nothing to blame, it is all my fault,” he said during a special recognition ceremony by MIC at party headquarters yesterday.

Although Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio already knew that he was on the verge of having his hand raised in triumph, the Filipino fighter was expecting a different result on the judges’ scorecards. Eustaquio, who edged out Thai rival Anatpong “Mak” Bunrad on the undercard of ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES in Singapore on Friday, May 26 via split verdict, thought that he did enough to get a unanimous decision from the three officials at cageside.

It seems there is nothing stopping Angela Lee. ONE Championship’s undefeated atomweight champion, the youngest title holder in mixed martial arts history and now the face of the sport in Asia is enjoying the sort of inexorable rise that means she is quickly becoming impossible to ignore in the world of MMA.