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Back in 2019, two of ONE Championship’s elite grapplers, Angela Lee and Michelle Nicolini, met at ONE: Masters of Destiny. Having previously faced each other in a grappling match in 2016, Lee was looking for revenge after Nicolini got her hand raised the first time they met.
Following her loss to Xiong Jing Nan in her previous fight, Lee was looking to rebound with a win but was once again defeated by the Brazilian jiu-jitsu veteran. The eight-time BJJ world champion has proven to be more than a match for the high-level grappling skills of the current ONE women’s atomweight world champion.
Though Angela ‘Unstoppable’ Lee is known for dominating her opponents on the ground, the roles were reversed when she faced an opponent with even more grappling prowess than her. Unable to stop Nicolini’s takedowns, Lee was forced to defend for the majority of their contest, which ended in a unanimous decision win for the Brazilian specialist.
Despite her success in getting the fight to the floor, Nicolini still had a fight on her hands and the two women produced a memorable contest that had the fans cheering each and every time Lee was able to get the upper hand.
Though she suffered back-to-back defeats for the first and only time in her career so far, Lee was able to regain her momentum by ending 2019 with a defense of her atomweight title in a rematch with Xiong Jing Nan.
Watch the full fight below:
Relive the epic war between Xiong Jing Nan and Angela Lee in their trilogy highlights
Through their three fights against one another, Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan have produced a rivalry that will define their careers. With all three contests living up to the hype with world championships on the line, their trilogy is already one for the history books.
For their trilogy fight, both women came into the contest with a previous win over each other. Both Lee and Xiong had challenged each other in their respective weight classes and failed to take their opponent's title away from them.
In their first fight, Angela Lee attempted to become a double champion but was defeated by the reigning women’s strawweight world champion. In the rematch, Xiong Jing Nan moved to atomweight, where Lee got her revenge six months after their initial meeting.
With everything to play for in the trilogy fight, the rivals produced a fight of the year contender at ONE on Prime Video 2. With Angela Lee getting a second chance at the strawweight title, she was once again stopped from becoming a double champion.
Despite Xiong Jing Nan’s best efforts, she was unable to finish Lee this time around. Whilst she may hold two wins over the atomweight world champion, the idea of a fourth fight with Lee’s world title on the line has got fans just as excited to watch them run it back once more.
Watch the highlights of their instant classic via the video uploaded by ONE Championship below:
