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Dominant ONE women's atomweight queen Angela Lee has officially started her training camp. After her monumental win at ONE X over the surging Stamp Fairtex, fans and pundits are wondering who can stop 'Unstoppable' at this point.
Against one of the most promising talents in her division and a woman most people thought would be her biggest challenge, Lee asserted her dominance yet again.
ONE Champonship's 115-pound roster is riddled with assassins waiting to have their shot at the queen. Just 10 pounds away are the strawweights, led by their supremely impressive world champion Xiong Jing Nan, who has a bone to pick with Lee.
Today, we list down three promising matchups for Angela Lee's next fight. Whether it's a title defense, a jump into submission grappling, or moving up to strawweight to challenge for a second belt again, we'll analyze which path is best for 'Unstoppable' to take.
#3. Angela Lee vs. Seo Hee Ham
As far as the rankings are concerned, this bout makes the most sense. Since Angela Lee soundly defeated the No.1-ranked Stamp Fairtex in her most recent bout, the next in line would be No.2-ranked fighter Seo Hee Ham.
The stocky South Korean slugger was once nicknamed 'Hamderlei Silva' after MMA legend Wanderlei Silva because of her exciting berzerker style. Ham pretty much Axe Murderer'd her way to a respectable 25-8 record across different organizations, namely Deep, Rizin, the UFC, and now, ONE Championship.
In her last outing inside the circle, Ham settled the score against Filipina MMA stalwart Denice Zamboanga at ONE X. In the bout, Ham silenced her critics by soundly defeating Zamboanga in their rematch after a highly controversial first bout months prior.
Ham showed tremendous improvement in her grappling as she proved that she's not just a powerful stand-up brawler. Against Zamboanga, Ham exemplified good ground control and clinch work.
She's going to need all those newfound skills if she's going to defeat a grappling standout in world champion Angela Lee.
#2. Angela Lee vs. Danielle Kelly
From a marketing standpoint, this one's gold. From a competitive standpoint, however, this one boils down to which sport they will compete in. ONE's submission grappling standout Danielle Kelly is one of the hottest stars in the sport today.
The American grappling savant has beaten some of the best female MMA fighters in her sport today, including Roxanne Modaferri, Cynthia Calvillo and current UFC strawweight world champion Carla Esparza. MMA, however, is an entirely different beast altogether, even for a world-class grappler like Kelly.
Things got a little heated between the two when they were on the mic at the ONE Championship x Prime Video press conference in LA a few weeks back. Kelly made a subtle comment that she only deals with "legit grapplers" right now but would take the fight with Lee in a heartbeat.
The world champion responded to this by challenging the jiu-jitsu ace in an MMA fight. As of this writing, the two are still trading barbs in interviews and social media posts.
When we said this match would boil down to which sport they chose to compete in, we meant it as nearly black-and-white. In an MMA fight, Kelly has very little chance of surviving the strikes and ground-and-pound of Lee. In a submission grappling contest, however, Lee will be stepping inside Kelly's world.
Perhaps a mixed-rules bout should be in play? That would be very interesting.
#1. Angela Lee vs. Xiong Jing Nan III
This is, without a doubt, the most compelling bout and also the one that makes the most sense. The rivalry for the ONE atomweight and strawweight belts between champions Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan was as intense as it was grand.
Their first fight took place at strawweight, with Xiong successfully defending her throne against atomweight champion Lee, who moved up in weight. The second bout took place at atomweight, where Lee defended her belt against invading strawweight Xiong.
The fights between 'Unstoppable' and 'The Panda' are some of the most high-level MMA contests you'll ever see. Both were like mythological beings atop their respective weight classes and their bouts had a "Clash of the Titans" feel to them.
The two warriors mirror each other's style too. Lee is a frenetic grappler who likes to attack from all positions, while Xiong has perhaps the most brutish striking arsenal on any female roster in ONE.
Xiong defended her belt three straight times since losing to Lee. Lee just made history by headlining the biggest martial arts event in history, ONE X. It's 1-1 between the two and a rubber match is something fans, fighters and pundits have been waiting to see.
The only question is, which weight class will it be fought in? Something tells us that Angela Lee will want to do it at strawweight, as she's eager to become ONE's first female double champ.
Watch a recap of their rivalry here:
