Angela Lee has officially started training camp, who could she be fighting?

ONE women's atomweight world champion Angela Lee (center) will be defending her belt soon. (Image courtesy of ONE)
ONE women's atomweight world champion Angela Lee (center) will be defending her belt soon. (Image courtesy of ONE)

#2. Angela Lee vs. Danielle Kelly

From a marketing standpoint, this one's gold. From a competitive standpoint, however, this one boils down to which sport they will compete in. ONE's submission grappling standout Danielle Kelly is one of the hottest stars in the sport today.

The American grappling savant has beaten some of the best female MMA fighters in her sport today, including Roxanne Modaferri, Cynthia Calvillo and current UFC strawweight world champion Carla Esparza. MMA, however, is an entirely different beast altogether, even for a world-class grappler like Kelly.

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Things got a little heated between the two when they were on the mic at the ONE Championship x Prime Video press conference in LA a few weeks back. Kelly made a subtle comment that she only deals with "legit grapplers" right now but would take the fight with Lee in a heartbeat.

The world champion responded to this by challenging the jiu-jitsu ace in an MMA fight. As of this writing, the two are still trading barbs in interviews and social media posts.

When we said this match would boil down to which sport they chose to compete in, we meant it as nearly black-and-white. In an MMA fight, Kelly has very little chance of surviving the strikes and ground-and-pound of Lee. In a submission grappling contest, however, Lee will be stepping inside Kelly's world.

Perhaps a mixed-rules bout should be in play? That would be very interesting.


#1. Angela Lee vs. Xiong Jing Nan III

This is, without a doubt, the most compelling bout and also the one that makes the most sense. The rivalry for the ONE atomweight and strawweight belts between champions Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan was as intense as it was grand.

Their first fight took place at strawweight, with Xiong successfully defending her throne against atomweight champion Lee, who moved up in weight. The second bout took place at atomweight, where Lee defended her belt against invading strawweight Xiong.

The fights between 'Unstoppable' and 'The Panda' are some of the most high-level MMA contests you'll ever see. Both were like mythological beings atop their respective weight classes and their bouts had a "Clash of the Titans" feel to them.

The two warriors mirror each other's style too. Lee is a frenetic grappler who likes to attack from all positions, while Xiong has perhaps the most brutish striking arsenal on any female roster in ONE.

Xiong defended her belt three straight times since losing to Lee. Lee just made history by headlining the biggest martial arts event in history, ONE X. It's 1-1 between the two and a rubber match is something fans, fighters and pundits have been waiting to see.

The only question is, which weight class will it be fought in? Something tells us that Angela Lee will want to do it at strawweight, as she's eager to become ONE's first female double champ.

Watch a recap of their rivalry here:

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Edited by Harvey Leonard
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