“I personally thought she won” - Lea Bivins offers her thoughts on the outcome of Angela Lee vs. Xiong Jing Nan III

Lea Bivins knew that the trilogy bout between archrivals Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan was close, to say the least. She also believes that the ONE women’s atomweight world champion should’ve won that matchup.

Though she’s made her observations on the rivalry, Bivins will now have to focus on her own fight. The American fighter will make her ONE Championship debut against Noelle Grandjean at ONE on Prime Video 3 this Friday at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.

Bivins expressed her thoughts on Lee and Xiong's trilogy in an interview with the South China Morning Post. She said that she was mightily impressed with how Lee conducted herself following the bout’s result.

‘First Moon’ felt that Lee should’ve won the match due to her aggression and offensive output in the final two rounds against Xiong, the reigning ONE women’s strawweight world champion.

Lea Bivins said:

“I thought Angela had an amazing performance in that fight. It was amazing to even see her hold her head high after defeat. I personally thought she won that fight. I thought she was better, well rounded. The first round didn’t go her way, but I felt like the other rounds following that, she had won.”

She added:

“But I do understand ONE scores differently than we’re used to, but I also think that’s a good thing as well. I would love to see a rematch between them, I think she’s [Xiong] gonna try and come for the atomweight belt, and I think Angela will have a great victory there in atomweight.”

Catch the full interview below:

The third match between the two was the second time that Xiong defended her women’s strawweight strap against Lee. Xiong, who now has a 2-1 edge in the head-to-head series, was relentless in the early parts of the fight and nearly had Lee finished in the first round.

Lee, however, fought her way back and became the aggressor in the fourth and fifth rounds. Although ‘Unstoppable’ moved increasingly forward, Xiong’s punches constantly broke through her guard.

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Lea Bivins recalls experience training with the Lee family

Lea Bivins primarily trains at her home gym of House of Moons in California. However, the ONE Championship newcomer spent a brief time training at the Lee family’s abode of United MMA in Hawaii.

The 20-year-old formed a close relationship with the famed martial arts family when she became teammates with Victoria Lee at the International Martial Arts Federation in 2019.

Her friendship with Victoria eventually led Bivins to meet and train with the rest of the Lee siblings, Adrian, Christian, and Angela.

In a previous interview with SCMP, Lea Bivins recalled how the Lee siblings pushed her to her absolute limit.

"They’re beasts out there, they have a whole different training camp. They definitely push the pace, it’s a really hard room to be in. Definitely, there are great competitors. Like, you’re with Christian Lee, Angela Lee, Victoria Lee, and Adrian Lee. They’re an amazing martial arts family. It was really great to get that experience and that confidence.”

Catch the full interview below: