Retired Angela Lee recalls dealing with cravings during her weight cuts: “You're dreaming of food”

Former ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion and ONE Championship pioneer ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee’s days of competing professionally at the highest level of MMA are over.

The recently retired 27-year-old Singaporean-American superstar officially walked away from the sport last September when she announced her retirement in front of thousands of fans in Singapore at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video.

Naturally, with her retirement, Lee has fondly looked back on her career and recalled the struggles she had with her weight. A self-confessed lover of food, it was hard for Lee to go on the daily grind of training and keeping to the strict dietary requirements of high-level professional athletes.

Speaking on a guest appearance at The Aloha Hour recently, Lee detailed her battle with trying to stay away from donuts during fight camp.

‘Unstoppable’ said:

“I feel like all fighters can relate to that just because it's crazy what your brain goes through when you can't have something for a period of time. Then you just have these cravings and you want it so badly. And sometimes when you are able to have it afterwards you take one bite and you're like, ‘Oh no I don't want anymore’. But the whole time you're dreaming of food. I would be up hungry watching food videos on my phone. It's crazy. It was really tough but at the same time, I think it brought this toughness out in me that I wouldn't have had before.”

At the top of her game, Lee was one of the most well-conditioned athletes in her prime and always came into her fights both physically and mentally ready for war. Outside of fight camp, however, Lee notoriously ballooned in weight when she allowed herself to give in to her cravings.

Away from fighting, Lee is now focused on her non-profit organization, FightStory. FightStory was established earlier this year following the tragic passing of Lee’s younger sister, fellow ONE Championship athlete Victoria Lee, who took her own life last December. The organization aims to help people dealing with depression and suicide.