“ONE Championship’s biggest star” - Angela Lee received tremendous outpouring of love following retirement

At ONE Fight Night 14 last Friday, long-time ONE women's atomweight world champion Angela Lee shocked the MMA world when she announced her abrupt retirement before the night's main event. The surprising announcement came in the heels of the tragic suicide of Lee's sister and fellow ONE athlete, Victoria Lee, late last year.

Angela Lee, together with her brother and ONE double-world champ Christian Lee, went on indefinite hiatus to heal and regroup as a family. The main event bout between Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee was originally slated for the interim ONE women's atomweight MMA world title, as the Singaporean-American was expected to announce her return in the event.

Instead, a teary-eyed Lee walked to the Circle with her belt on her shoulder, announced that she'll be hanging up her gloves for good, and left the world title in the middle of the mat.

ONE Championship shortly posted a tribute post for Angela Lee and her legendary career:

"Join us in congratulating "Unstoppable" Angela Lee on a legendary career 🙏 @angelaleemma #ThankYouAngela"

Fans and fighters alike are flooding the comments section with love and support for the now-former world champion. Here are some of the notable ones:

Comments on the post

@vltg_.19 said what was all in our hearts and minds:

"The moment she said she will retire my heart dropped ngl that was heartbreaking for me but it doesn't matter main thing I wish for is for her to recover get better and I'll still support her, she's amazing so motivating and inspiring, the retirement broke my heart lol but yea, thank you angela🙏🏼"

@washireyes made the perfect assessment of Lee's ONE Championship run:

"she is/was one championship's biggest star. stay strong, angela."

@andaman_friday built upon @washireyes' comment:

"The Lee family" will forever be the legendary champions of '#ONE."

Up until ONE Fight Night 14, Angela Lee was the first and only 115-pound women's MMA world champion in ONE. She became the youngest MMA world champion ever by winning the belt in 2016. She defended the belt 5 times since and held on to her throne for 2,703 days - the longest reign in ONE Championship history.

Lee had one of the best and most exciting rivalries in MMA history when she went on a three-fight series with fellow ONE world champion, strawweight MMA queen Xiong Jing Nan. For many years, she was the face of the organization and helped bring ONE Championship into mainstream consciousness.

With the belt in good hands with newly-crowned world champion Stamp Fairtex, Angela Lee can rest assured that her legacy will be intact and will be honored by the future generation.