Angela Lee is ‘following her heart’ by retiring from MMA and focusing on helping people

Former ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee announced her official retirement from professional mixed martial arts competition a couple of weeks ago.

The 27-year-old relinquished her golden belt in an emotional ceremony at ONE Fight Night 14. Despite being at the top of her game and in the prime of her career, Lee felt it was time to hang up the gloves for good, in order to focus on her non-profit organization, Fightstory.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ESPN MMA, Lee said that while fighting will always be a part of her life, she is simply following her heart in championing her new initiative.

‘Unstoppable’ said:

“The whole reason why I started fighting is because I loved it and I still have a lot of love for the sport, but just in a different way now. To be honest with you, I just don't have the heart for it. I don't have the heart to step in there again, and I know that, you know, it might sound corny or whatever. But if you follow your heart, we'll always lead you in the right direction and that's why I know I'm making the right decision, choosing to retire now at this moment for me.”

See the full interview below:

Lee established Fightstory in honor of her late sister, fellow ONE Championship athlete Victoria Lee, who tragically took her own life in December of last year. Fightstory aims to help people who are dealing with depression and suicide.

While Lee has not completely closed the door on a potential return, the Singaporean-American superstar says that the decision to retire at this stage in her life feels like the right thing to do. Whether or not we see Lee return to the cage at some point remains to be seen.

Moments after her emotional retirement at ONE Fight Night 14, Thai phenom Stamp Fairtex defeated South Korean veteran Ham Seo Hee via body-shot knockout to capture the vacant ONE women’s atomweight MMA world title.