Angela Lee recalls how her visit to Sparta further fanned the flames of her love of martial arts: “I felt the energy”

Angela Lee lived and breathed martial arts, and a pilgrimage to one of the world’s historically rich landmarks lit a fire that burned inside her throughout her stellar career.

In an interview with The Aloha Hour, Lee recalled how she and her team traveled to Greece when she was still an amateur fighter in Hawaii.

Lee, who was around 16 years old at the time, visited Sparta with her teammates and it was in this ancient Greek state that the future MMA legend would experience a greater passion for martial arts.

She said:

“Throughout high school, I would compete like nationally and internationally, it was MMA, but you know we're still under 18, so we're youth, so it was actually called Pankration, which is kind of like MMA without head contact. So we actually traveled to Greece in Sparta. We traveled to Europe, and when I got to travel overseas, it was really cool."

Le added:

"I felt the energy, I was 16, yeah, so that kind of experience opened my eyes because one, I loved traveling to new places and seeing the culture and everyone. And two, I loved being around you know other kids, other teenagers from different parts of the world that have this dream.”

Pankration was an early combat sport in ancient Greece and was part of the Greek Olympic Games.

The ancient form of the sport has since died out, but the current version has similarities to MMA, albeit with several restrictions.

Lee has since carried that passion for martial arts and renewed vigor from Sparta when she turned professional in 2015.

Having fought her entire professional career at ONE Championship, Lee was one of the most influential fighters in the promotion’s growth.

Lee became the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion in 2016 at just 19 years old, and she held that belt until she retired from the sport earlier this year.

Watch Lee's entire interview below: