Angela Lee says pushing through pneumonia in her world title defense against Istela Nunes was “a big moment” for her

Angela Lee has a boatload of iconic moments during her unstoppable run in ONE Championship, but there was one match that she chose as one that defined her career and personality.

The inaugural ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion was in her second defense of the gold when she faced Brazil’s Istela Nunes at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes in May 2017 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Unbeknownst to many, Lee was suffering from pneumonia mere days before her fight against Nunes.

Lee said in previous interviews that she was in the worst condition she’s ever been heading into the fight, but her spirit eventually pushed her into one of the best wins in her storied career.

In an interview with the Keep it Aloha Podcast, Angela Lee recalled how she pushed through her limits and finished the fight as fast as possible.

She said:

“There's been a lot of moments where you know I feel like I was tested. Just going over some of them one of my title fights, I got diagnosed with pneumonia on the week of the fight. I was on antibiotics and struggling to make the weight requirement because, you know, the antibiotics like they affect your body your weight, your water retention, and I remember after winning that fight I told myself going to that fight I was like I cannot go five rounds like this.”

Angela Lee added:

“I was like coughing and like throwing up and so I got the finish in the second round and immediately after that I ran out the cage and I was throwing up. That was a big moment.”

‘Unstoppable’ was in her element during the fight and submitted Nunes with a rare anaconda choke in the second round.

Watch the entire interview below:

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Angela Lee credits parents’ strict upbringing for developing her tough mindset

Mixed martial arts is arguably the most physically and mentally exhaustive sport out there, with athletes having so little margin of error during competition.

It takes a certain kind of toughness to merely step inside the cage, and Angela Lee has tonnes of it. Lee is one of the best fighters of her era, and much of it is due to the indomitable attitude she developed through her parents’ teachings.

During the same podcast interview, Lee recalled how her parents Ken and Jewelz demanded nothing but the best from her:

“Definitely. I think because my parents were like 'No you're going to stick with this, you're going to learn how to defend yourself, you're going to train.' That, well obviously, helped me in competition, but also carried out through anything else in life, sticking to something when it's difficult, when you don't want to do it when it's hard. And then learning to persevere and overcome those challenges. They really helped me and shaped me for sure.”