Despite Battling Grueling 10 Rounds Against Chinese Champion, Angela Lee Sees ‘Unfinished Business’ in the Xiong Jing Nan Trilogy

ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee’s first attempt at becoming a two-division titleholder fell short when strawweight queen “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan scored a fifth-round TKO win over her in their first meeting in March 2019.

But the Singaporean-American superstar gets another crack at making history as the first female fighter in ONE Championship to hold belts in two weight classes when she challenges the Chinese enigma once again at ONE on Prime Video 2 this Friday, September 30.

Ahead of the highly anticipated tussle, Lee admits that she may not have been fully prepared for “The Panda’s” division the first time around. But, three years on, she feels fully prepared to score an emphatic victory.

“When I wanted to move up to strawweight, I just think that it might have been rushing it, just because I didn’t have everything lined up at the time. Like, I was dealing with back injuries and not being able to train at 100%,” Lee said.

“So, I was going into the fight less than that, and obviously, it showed. I mean, I was lacking in certain areas. I feel like I did really well but at the same time, I know how much better I could have been if I had the right preparations, and so now I truly feel that this is my time.”

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The longtime ONE World Champions will meet for the third time on Friday evening. Lee scored her own final-round win to defend her atomweight strap six months after their first battle, handing Xiong her first taste of defeat courtesy of a rear-naked choke submission.

Angela Lee knew the trilogy was coming

The victory proved that, with the right strategy, Lee can trap “The Panda” with her unique arsenal, and she has been itching for a chance to take another stab at her rival’s World Title since.

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“I definitely knew that I would meet her again. I knew there was unfinished business there. And, you know, the preparation, the training has been great,” Lee said.

“And I’m confident, because she didn’t experience my full game yet. But I think I’ve experienced hers. So I think that’s going to be to my advantage.”

Though she remains confident ahead of the trilogy bout, Lee refuses to count “The Panda” out.

“Unstoppable” feels that they have grown over the years, and she expects it to be a back-and-forth battle as soon as they get locked inside the Circle.

“This is not going to be that typical striker versus grappler fight. I mean, it would be so wrong to label that, because she’s evolved as an MMA fighter. I’ve evolved as an MMA fighter, and we both have,” Lee said.

“I feel very well with our games. But definitely, I’ll be looking to take her out in the early rounds.”

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