"I know she has been improving her MMA game rapidly" - ONE Championship star Angela Lee stays wary of challenger Stamp Fairtex ahead of ONE X

ONE Championship's reigning women's atomweight champion Angela Lee is making her long-awaited return to the Circle at the ONE X supercard on March 26. As expected from a champion of her caliber, the 25-year-old is not letting her guard down in the slightest as she prepares for her next challenger, Stamp Fairtex.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Lee had nothing but praise for the ONE Championship Grand Prix winner:

"I was preparing myself for any of the girls in that tournament because I knew that the winner would come out a better fighter in the end, because they had all that experience. Obviously that’s going to keep her sharp and be a big advantage toward her. I know she has been improving her MMA game rapidly. I think we have a good feel of what Stamp’s going to bring to the fight and we’re preparing for that."

Indeed, Stamp's rise up the ONE ranks has been nothing short of spectacular, especially during Lee's hiatus from 2019 to 2021.

To put things in perspective, the 24-year-old Stamp has fought nine times in ONE Championship, both in MMA and Muay Thai, since Lee last fought in October 2019. In that time, Lee had enough time to study all her possible challengers while also learning how to be a great mother to her baby daughter Ava Marie.

Now that she is entering the final stretch of her maternity leave, Lee told SCMP that she is fired up and ready for her in-ring return:

"I think it’s a really great fight for me and for Stamp. I think that, because the fans have been asking for this fight for a while now, even before the tournament was announced, we finally get to see that matchup. I think it’s great. I’m excited for it, and I know she is too. So definitely, it can’t come soon enough."

Watch the rest of Lee's interview with SCMP here:

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Stamp Fairtex aims to cap meteoric ONE Championship rise with atomweight gold

The last time Angela Lee fought in the ONE Circle, Stamp Fairtex only had two MMA wins to her name. Since then, the Thai star has taken down some of the best fighters in her division on her way to greater recognition in the fight scene.

In her last fight before earning top contender status, she forced Ritu Phogat to tap out in the Grand Prix final. Fairtex earned the title of ONE Championship 2021 Female MMA Fighter of the Year.

Now all she needs to do to further solidify her status is to dethrone one of her generation's greatest fighters in the main event of her promotion's biggest card in history. No pressure.