Angela Lee says family being so connected in MMA led to her decision to retire: “It's just very difficult to go on”

Former ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion and ONE Championship legend ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee made the very difficult decision to retire from professional mixed martial arts competition a few weeks ago, leaving behind a once golden career.

Lee has chosen to focus on running her non-profit organization, Fightstory, which was established in memory of her late sister, Victoria Lee, who tragically took her own life last December.

‘Unstoppable’ made her retirement official just moments before the main event of ONE Fight Night 14 between Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee, with Lee entering the circle for the final time and symbolically laying her ONE Championship belt in the middle of the canvas.

Speaking to ESPN MMA in an exclusive interview, Lee detailed how difficult it was to make the decision to retire.

‘Unstoppable’ said:

“I did give it a lot of thought and it's just really tough, because like you were saying earlier my sister was also fighting my whole family are fighters. My dad was our coach and because everything was so, I guess, intertwined and connected. That's one of the big factors that I'm stepping away is because you know it's just very difficult to go on.”

See the full interview below:

Lee comes from a family of martial artists, so it’s definitely difficult for her to go on fighting when everything reminds her of Victoria, who was her chief sparring partner.

Lee has a younger brother, Christian Lee, who is the reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight world champion. Another younger brother, Adrian Lee, is an amateur MMA champion. Her father, Ken Lee, a black belt in multiple disciplines, was her head coach. Her mother, Jewelz Lee, was also a decorated martial arts practitioner.

Without a doubt, the Lee family is martial arts royalty.

Shortly after Lee’s retirement, Stamp Fairtex ended up defeating Ham Seo Hee to capture the vacant ONE women’s atomweight MMA world title.