"She was there in the cage with me, that's probably my favorite moment" - Angela Lee on celebrating with daughter Ava Marie

Angela Lee has a list of successful title defenses, but her favorite has to be her last one.

In her latest title defense, the longtime ONE women’s atomweight world champion submitted Stamp Fairtex a couple of weeks ago at ONE X, ONE Championship’s 10-year anniversary show.

More importantly, it was the first fight that Lee’s daughter Ava Marie witnessed. In an interview with MMA Mania, the mom champ said she was honored not just to headline the massive card but also to celebrate with her daughter following the victory. Angela Lee said:

“Because I had my daughter with me for the first time and she got to see me fight and she was there in the cage with me after so I think, that’s probably my favorite moment in my whole career.”

Lee made her fifth title defense at ONE X, and it was the first time that she got to celebrate her victory as a mother. In a heartfelt moment, Lee embraced and carried Ava Marie during her post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson inside the circle.

‘Unstoppable’ added that ONE: Century was also a special moment for her. She knocked out Xiong Jing Nan to retain her title on the October 2019 card, while her brother Christian beat Dagi Arslanaliev in the ONE lightweight world Grand Prix championship final.

Lee faced Xiong for the second time at ONE: Century. She failed in her bid to take the ONE women’s strawweight world title from the Chinese star in March 2019 at ONE: A New Era.

“I’ve had the lucky opportunity to headlining huge, massive shows and ONE X is very special because that was my first time competing as a mom and having that time off. But ONE: Century was very special as well. We both had victories that night and for me to also get that win back and finish Xiong was very special,” Angela Lee said.

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Angela Lee ranks Stamp Fairtex as one of her toughest opponents

Angela Lee’s defense of her belt against Stamp was, arguably, the most high-profile match on the ONE X card.

Stamp, the ONE women’s atomweight world Grand Prix winner, was already a ONE atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion before she challenged Lee for the strap. Meanwhile, Angela Lee has been the atomweight queen since 2016.

Just the accolades between Stamp and Lee were enough to hype up the fight. The match itself was also an absolute barnburner.

Stamp nearly scored a knockout with a vicious left hook to the liver, while Lee almost got a submission win with a deep twister. Nevertheless, a rear-naked choke did it for Angela Lee in the second round.

“She was a tough opponent. She had no quit in her. The twister was in pretty good and she managed to keep surviving and scrambling on the ground. But me and my team knew that’s where we have the advantage in the transition. Even though she was scrambling out of it, I was always one step ahead and making sure that it would just lead to my next movement.”