MMA
MMA fighter Angela Lee out of ONE Championship title defense following serious car accident
The reigning ONE Atomweight World Champion was involved in a car accident in Hawaii.
Mixed martial arts star Angela Lee is out of her ONE title bout on 24 November after being involved in a car accident in Hawaii on Tuesday.
Lee, born in Vancouver to a Singaporean father and a South Korean mother, was not seriously injured in the crash, but left the scene suffering from a concussion and some minor burns.
The 21-year-old fighter was scheduled to rematch Mei Yamaguchi in the main event of a ONE show on November 24 in Singapore.
The accident
On Tuesday morning, Lee fell asleep while she was driving to the gym for her morning training session.
Chatri Sityodtong, founder and CEO of ONE Championship, wrote about the incident.
'ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee got into a terrible car accident yesterday with her car flipping over 5-6x according to the police,' said Sityodtong in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
'Miraculously, she survived with only a concussion, some minor burns, and a banged-up body,' he said. 'If she was not wearing a seatbelt, it would have most certainly been a different story.'
According to Lee’s father and trainer, Ken Lee, the accident happened on Oahu island when Angela’s car hit a guardrail on the highway.
'The axle snapped and the car flipped 5-6 times over 100 yards and landed on the opposite side of the highway, according to the police,' said Ken Lee to Khon2.
“It is truly a miracle that she survived. We are so blessed that God laid his hand of protection over her.”
Here’s a picture of the crashed car:
Youngest ever MMA champion
On 5 May, 2016, Lee became the youngest person to ever win a world title in MMA by beating Mei Yamaguchi to win the ONE Women’s Atomweight Title.
Lee, who holds a record of 8-0 as a professional, was looking for her third consecutive title defense.
On 11 March, 2017 she defeated Jenny Huang and two months later, on 26 May, she did so with Istela Nunes.
The November 24 fight was set to be her second against Yamaguchi. It is not known yet if ONE will replace Lee on the fight-card.
The new main event is set to be the bout between welterweight champion Ben Askren (17-0) and Shinya Aoki (39-7).