“It makes zero sense to me” - Tiffany Teo doesn’t believe Angela Lee deserves shot at strawweight belt

Tiffany Teo wants to shake things up in the ONE women’s atomweight division.

But right before she embarks on a new journey at 115 lbs, ‘No Chill’ made it clear that she’s not in favor of the current pecking order of things in her old stomping grounds.

Ahead of her atomweight debut against Ritu Phogat at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai on September 29 at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Teo questioned the legitimacy of Angela Lee’s claim at longtime women’s strawweight queen Xiong Jing Nan’s throne.

Lee and Xiong will settle their trilogy at ONE on Prime Video 2, live on US primetime, on September 30.

Tiffany Teo, who had to grind it out to get her two world title shots against Xiong, was baffled at how ‘Unstoppable’ managed to cut to the front of the line.

The 31-year-old Singaporean fighter also pointed out that Lee is winless at strawweight, following her failed attempt against ‘The Panda’ in their first encounter back in 2019.

Lee was also unable to get her hand raised against Michelle Nicolini, whom Teo has easily beaten in the past.

An obviously peeved Tiffany Teo said in an exclusive interview with ONE Championship:

“It makes zero sense to me. She pretty much got her ass kicked in the strawweight division - she lost to Michelle [Nicolini], she lost to ‘Panda’ [Xiong Jing Nan]. She has zero wins at strawweight, and the next thing you hear is that she’s fighting for the title.”

Moreover, Teo argued that Lee’s atomweight world title should have been the one up for grabs in the grudge match.

She added:

“Xiong Jing Nan has the same sentiments, and I’m totally on the same page with her on that. It would make sense if ‘Panda’ went down to atomweight to contend for the title, but since that’s not going to happen, I don’t know. I’m leaning towards Xiong retaining her world title at strawweight.”

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Tiffany Teo can challenge Angela Lee if she gets past Ritu Phogat

Determining who fights Xiong should be the least of Teo’s worries now that she has dropped down to 115 lbs.

After all, she’s now in a position to challenge Angela Lee if she can string together a couple of wins against the top 5 in the division. However, the road begins with ruthless wrestling phenom Ritu Phogat.

‘No Chill’ is confident in her abilities and believes her versatility will be too much to handle for the ‘Indian Tigress.’ While a title shot against the United MMA and Evolve MMA standout is her ultimate goal, Tiffany Teo made it clear that she’s not looking past Phogat.

The Matrix MMA product told ONE in an earlier interview:

“I’m not putting anything past Ritu. As I’ve mentioned, every fight, she has been improving, so I’m sure that after that loss, she went back and she realized that she probably has to work more on her jiu-jitsu defense or attacks. I’m ready for all the different aspects that she might be bringing to me.”