ONE Championship: Angela Lee passes the torch to Stamp Fairtex, saying ‘I didn’t have the heart for it any more’
- Former champ ‘proud’ to hand her successor Stamp the atomweight MMA title after calling it quits following death of 18-year-old sister
- CEO Chatri admits ‘without a doubt, Angela was the face of ONE’ but says Stamp is now ‘greatest female combat athlete on the planet’
Embracing her successor in the Circle, it was a symbolic gesture for Angela Lee to hand Stamp Fairtex the belt after her stunning ONE Fight Night 14 title win.
Stamp became the new undisputed – not interim – atomweight MMA champ in ONE Championship with a third-round body shot KO of Ham Seo-hee at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Moments before the main event, the former champ Lee had laid down her belt on the canvas, confirming her retirement and vacating the title she never lost since becoming the division’s inaugural queen in 2016.
She had been sitting cageside for the whole show, but insisted she “didn’t have that feeling” of wanting to fight again after seeing the action up close.
“No, for me it was a proud moment, I guess,” Lee told reporters backstage. “I couldn’t have chosen two better fighters to carry on the division.”
