Angela Lee looking to make history and pioneer women's MMA at ONE: Ascent To Power

On 6 May, Singapore will play host to an historic night of mixed martial arts when Singapore’s own “Unstoppable” Angela Lee (5-0) and Japan’s Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi (15-8-1) go head-to-head in a battle for the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship.

Although she is still relatively new to the sport, Lee is considered to be one of the brightest young talents in MMA. Speaking to the Independent earlier this week, she said she believes that now is her time to shine.

“This fight is going to be the most important of my life,” said Lee, who made her professional MMA debut last year. “I truly believe that since I started my martial arts journey, it’s been my destiny to become a world champion. All my hard work and all my training is going to pay off.”

By becoming the first ever Atomweight world champion in ONE Championship, Lee believes it will be the start of a massive new wave of interest in women's MMA in Asia and thinks the only direction for the sport is up right now.

"Right now woman’s MMA in Asia is still quite new," said Lee. "I think that crowning the first ever woman’s champion is going to really help woman’s MMA to take off. It started in North America but once we have a woman’s champion here in Asia it's just going to continue and skyrocket."

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At only 19 years of age, one would assume that being the face of women's MMA in Asia would be too much pressure for such young shoulders, however, Lee believes that she can channel that pressure into positive energy.

"It is pressure, I’m not going to say that it’s not," admitted Lee openly. "But, anytime there’s pressure on my shoulders I try to turn it around and use as motivation. It's not just for myself or the glory. I win for my family and friends and all the kids that are going to be watching."

If she is to be successful in winning the title on 6 May, Lee will have to overcome a dangerous opponent in Mei Yamaguchi. The Japanese star has been in the sport a lot longer than Lee with over twenty-four bouts but Lee doesn't necessarily believe that means she will take any advantage into their fight.

"On paper, it may seem like [Yamaguchi] has a lot more experience because of her record but I don't think that that’s necessarily true," said Lee confidently.

"I think I have equal experience or more because my MMA game is on another level than hers. I’ve been training MMA as a whole for my entire life. That’s always my advantage going into fights."

Lee continued: "When Mei faces me she’s going to face someone who is extremely well-rounded in MMA. When I fight I go in there extremely focused on finishing the fight as fast as I can. The transitions come to me naturally. She’s going to try to take me deep in the rounds but it’s not going to happen."

While totally confident in her own abilities, Lee wasn't totally writing off her opponent's chances and said she wouldn't be underestimating come fight night.

"There’s always the X-factor. It’s a fight. She could catch me with a lucky punch. I’m not going to underestimate her. She’s also an intense fighter and likes to take the fight to people. I think that’s going to make for a very exciting fight."

Angela Lee takes on Mei Yamaguchi at One: Ascent To Power on 6 May at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Viewers from the UK will be able to watch the live stream for the event at http://onefc.com/livestream

It was also announced today by ONE Championship that Roger Gracie (7-2) will face Michal Pasternak (11-0) for the ONE Light Heavyweight title following the news that the previously booked co-main event between Aleksei Butorin and Vitaly Bigdash had been cancelled.