“Can’t wait to see her thrive” - Angela Lee takes bullying victim under her wing at United BJJ

Recently retired former ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee has fully dedicated her life to promoting the Martial Arts spirit through love and kindness. In one of her most recent Instagram posts, 'Unstoppable' put the spotlight on one of her new BJJ students, London.

The young Hawaiian girl was a victim of bullying and with the help of Lee and MMA legend Tom DeBlass, she's been given the gift of empowerment through Jiu-jitsu.

Here's the post:

"Today this brave, young girl came in to our gym for her first grappling class. This is London. I reached out to her family after seeing a video of her being physically attacked in one of the high school bathrooms here in Hawaii."

In the post caption, Angela Lee spoke about her advocacy and how having London gives her life and career a new meaning:

"My friend @tomdeblass [Tom DeBlass] has a nonprofit organization called Buddies Over Bullies which is an amazing program that empowers children and teens through Jiu Jitsu. @bpucci [Lee's husband Bruno Pucci] and I are more than honored to join Buddies Over Bullies and sponsor @l0n8on with free Jiu Jitsu training at our gym. We are so proud of London and can't wait to see her thrive in her new Jiu Jitsu journey!! 🙌🏼🥋❤️"

To some, martial arts is a gift. To world champions like Angela Lee and Tom DeBlass, however, they see it as a gift. A gift that teaches respect, honor, discipline, kindness, compassion and love. We, together with Angela Lee and her team, are absolutely proud of London for taking the first step in a life-long journey.

Aside from being part of DeBlass' Buddies over Bullies, Lee also launched "Fightstory", a non-profit organization advocating mental health amongst combat athletes.

In her words, Lee explained what her non-profit is all about:

"Fightstory is a mental health non-profit organization created by combat athletes for fighters of all walks of life to share their story, inspire hope, and build a community for all to thrive in their mental and physical wellness journey. We believe stories can save lives.”

At ONE Fight Night 14 two weeks ago, Angela Lee retired and relinquished the ONE women's atomweight MMA world title. The belt was then won by her former challenger, Stamp Fairtex. In a poetic "passing of the torch" moment, Lee herself entered the Circle to put the belt on the new world champion.