‘I’m Years And Years Ahead’ – Angela Lee Says MMA Experience Gives Her Edge Over Stamp Fairtex
After a long hiatus, “Unstoppable” Angela Lee will return to defend her ONE Women’s Atomweight World Title, and the stages don’t get much bigger.
Lee will face ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Champion Stamp Fairtex in the main event of the promotion’s historic 10-year anniversary card – ONE X – on Saturday, 26 March.
The dominant atomweight queen took time off for her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter last April, and she watched from the sidelines as Stamp roared through the tournament to earn the World Title challenge.
But while she recognizes the scale of this task against one of the best strikers on the planet, Lee believes her vast experience in mixed martial arts will pay dividends when they meet in the Circle.
“Unstoppable” said:
“Stamp is highly credentialed. She is a [ONE] Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion. She has been at the top, and she knows what it takes to get to the top. I’m not overlooking her. I respect her credentials, but that’s just the thing, you know? I know that Stamp has been doing this since she was a little girl as well. But for the for majority of her life, she has just been training striking and mixed martial arts is quite different.
“She’s been doing an amazing job in the past few years, rounding off her game with her team at Fairtex, but I just think that I’m years and years ahead of her.”
Before she transitioned to mixed martial arts full-time to compete for the World Grand Prix crown, Stamp earned the ONE Women’s Atomweight Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Titles.
She’s also showcased an increasingly savvy ground game, even submitting wresting star Ritu Phogat in the tournament final at ONE: WINTER WARRIORS in December.
Still, Lee is not worried about facing the Fairtex superstar anywhere, and she feels there are nuances to MMA that Stamp is not experienced enough to keep pace with. Ultimately, “Unstoppable” believes those finer details will lead her to victory.
She explained:
“I’ve faced world-class strikers in my career, and never once was I afraid. Never once was I overwhelmed. I stand my ground, and I believe in my striking. Look at my last fight against [ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion] Xiong Jing Nan, and you can clearly see the damage on her face after the fight. So my striking is definitely not an area where I see it as my weakness. Probably a strength.
“I think that with my ground game, I’ve been doing mixed martial arts my whole life, so where I truly feel that I shine the most is in the transitions. On the striking to the wrestling to the grappling to the ground-and-pound, and transitioning through each of those areas seamlessly. I think that I can change things a lot [quicker] than she can keep up with, and I think that’s going to be a problem for her.”
There Will Be No ‘Stamp Dance’ For Angela Lee
While Angela Lee has been out of action looking after her growing family and building back to her ONE return, Stamp has continued her rapid ascent – both inside and outside the Circle.
She’s become a massive fan favorite, and “Unstoppable” can see why.
Lee said:
“I think people love her energy, her personality. She’s very bubbly. She’s very authentic. She’s herself. She reminds me a lot of me how I was when I started out. I think that people gravitate to that kind of energy.”
Stamp’s social media presence really endears her to fans, but the fun doesn’t stop there. The Thai star dances her way to the battlefield, with her “Stamp Dance” entrance now a renowned part of event festivities.
But while Lee admires Stamp for being authentic, she also stays true to herself. With that in mind, the defending titleholder won’t take a page out of the challenger’s book when she strides down the walkway at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“All I can say is you’re not gonna see me doing any of that anytime soon. I get it and she has her own way of hyping up the crowd but, yeah, I don’t think I can pull it off.”
Angela Lee on the “Stamp Dance” walkout
