CV Stardom

With ONE Championship now having two male two-division world champions, fight fans are wondering if the promotion is looking forward to having its first ever female two-division champion. Currently, the promotion has two female world champions.

Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, 21, of Singapore became the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion when she defeated Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi, 35, of Japan at “ONE: Ascent to Power” on May 6, 2016. It is still Lee’s only win via unanimous decision.

On November 24, 2017, Lee and Yamaguchi were originally scheduled to have their rematch on at “ONE: Immortal Pursuit” but the former was injured in a car accident in Hawaii weeks prior to the competition so she had to pull out. Gina “Conviction” Iniong, 28, of the Philippines replaced Lee and lost via unanimous decision to Yamaguchi, who is finally having a rematch with Lee at “ONE: Unstoppable Dreams.”

On December 9, 2017, “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan, 30, of China made a successful ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Warriors of the World” where she knocked out April Osenio, 23, of the Philippines. On January 20, 2018, the Chinese fighter knocked out Tiffany “No Chill” Teo, 27, of Singapore at “ONE: Kings of Courage” making her the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion.

During the worldwide media conference call on March 15, 2018, both Lee and Yamaguchi were asked about the possibility of challenging the reigning ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion in the future. In Lee’s reply, she said she does not really like to make such future plans because she has a scheduled bout in the next two months.

“That’s all my focus is on right now, not thinking about the next division or what I’m going to do after this,” Lee explained. “I’d like to stay focused on one task at a time.  But after my fight with Mei, we’ll see what the next steps are.  That’s something that I am keen to but we’ll see.  I don’t want to even think about it right now until after this match is done.”

“It’s the same for me too,” Yamaguchi replied. “I’m just focusing on the title match in May and I never thought about going to other division.  I think I’d like to aim for the belt in atomweight.”

Lee and Yamaguchi will headline “ONE: Unstoppable Dreams” on May 18, 2018 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Here is a clip featuring the two MMA fighters: