“There’s no guidebook on how to do that” – Angela Lee admits being a mom is much tougher than MMA career

As hard as it was for Angela Lee to become a world champion in mixed martial arts, being a mom is so much more difficult.

After nearly a decade of dominance under the ONE Championship banner, the former atomweight queen laid down her 26 pounds of gold and walked away from the sport in September. Determined to start a new chapter, Lee is now focused on paying tribute to her late sister through the non-profit mental health organization Fightstory and being a mom to her daughter, Ava Marie.

Speaking about her journey as a mother on the Keep it Aloha Podcast, Angela Lee responded without hesitation when asked which is harder: being a fighter or being a mother.

“Definitely raising a child, you know,” Lee said. “There's no guidebook on how to do that and there are no right or wrong answers really. You know, for me and my husband, all we're trying to do is do better for her.”

Angela Lee believes taking care of her daughter begins with taking care of herself

For Lee, taking care of her daughter begins with taking care of herself, both mentally and physically:

“Actually doing better for her a lot of times is actually taking care of ourselves and doing better for ourselves because you know if you're not in a good state of mind, if you're not doing well, it's going to affect your child.”

In recent months, Lee has come out in the open regarding her past struggles with mental health, though it’s something that she dealt with quietly for many years.

Knowing all too well the dangers of trying to cope alone, she developed Fightstory as a way for fighters from all walks of life to share their stories of struggle, triumph and tragedy. To learn how you can join the fight, visit Fightstory’s official Instagram account.