Angela Lee talks about growing up in a martial arts family: “I loved testing myself”

Recently retired former ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee has now opened up about her legendary career. With her professional competition days over, the 27-year-old Singaporean-American superstar looks back fondly on the indelible memories she has made in the world’s largest martial arts organization.

Lee grew up in a martial arts household, with father Ken and mother Jewelz both highly decorated black belts. Her younger brother, Christian, is the reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion. Younger siblings Adrian, and the late Victoria Lee, were amateur world champions.

To say that martial arts runs in the Lee family is a massive understatement. However, Lee says that growing up, there was no pressure on her to become a pro fighter. The only thing her parents required of their children was to learn martial arts and the values that came along with it.

Speaking on a guest appearance on The Aloha Hour podcast, Lee talked about her childhood, being raised with martial arts all around her.

‘Unstoppable’ said:

“I'd say it happened naturally, the course of wanting to compete, because as a kid I was very spunky, I was very much a competitor. I loved testing myself but training was…we didn't have a say in that. It was like you had to train, you have to, you know, you're going to learn how, you don't have to compete, but you're going to have to train you're going to learn these techniques. So yeah, that part was non-negotiable but the competition part was always optional. But that was my favorite part. So I just wanted to compete and not train and they're like ‘No it doesn't work that way! it doesn't work that way!’”

Eventually, Lee did find herself on the biggest global stage of martial arts competition -- ONE Championship, where she reigned for many years as a world champion. The rest is history.

With her career now in the rear view mirror, fans can expect to see more of Lee behind the scenes, as she runs her nonprofit organization, FightStory, in honor of her late sister Victoria, who tragically took her own life in December of last year. FightStory aims to help people suffering from depression and suicide.