'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAIAQEAAAAAlyv/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAECEAAAAB//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAEDEAAAAF//xAAiEAABBAEDBQEAAAAAAAAAAAAEAQIDEQUAFSEHEhMigZL/2gAIAQEAAT8ACxcABAODPHduRA0VwMbH44fZUWX82nC3zorovnoyZmbGGva9UuLKKjPltvX/xAAXEQADAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIR/9oACAECAQE/AIen/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAIAQMBAT8Ap//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Angela Lee is back in the strawweight division and she’s once again on the hunt for Xiong Jing Nan’s ONE women’s strawweight world championship.
The reigning ONE women’s atomweight world champion is approaching her second bid for Xiong’s world title. The pair will collide in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 2: Xiong vs. Lee III, which is set to air live at US primetime this Friday from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
We’ve all seen just how dominant Lee is, but her last attempt at 125-pound gold was lackluster, to say the least.
She first fought Xiong for strawweight gold at ONE: A New Era in March 2019 but suffered a fifth-round knockout loss.
Upon returning to her domain, Lee eventually avenged her defeat by scoring a fifth-round submission win over 'The Panda' just seven months later at ONE: Century Part I.
Now that they’re 1-1 in their head-to-head series, Lee wants nothing more than to get the advantage and wrest the ONE women’s strawweight world title from Xiong.
Defeating Xiong in her division, however, is easier said than done. Lee, though, certainly possesses the skills to pull it off. With that said, let's take a look at her keys to victory against the Chinese empress.
#3. Angela Lee must look for that early finish
The first two fights between Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan both reached the fifth round. It was clear that the two world champions were nearing the end of their gas tank, save for their inspired finishing sequences.
Lee’s first challenge for strawweight gold ended in disaster when she seemingly exhausted all of her strength trying to submit Xiong with an armbar in the fourth round.
While Xiong found the proverbial second wind in the fifth, Lee was visibly gassed and the body shot she took from ‘The Panda’ made things incredibly worse for her.
As she’s fighting up a weight class, Lee must take the fight to Xiong and look for that early finish. The Chinese superstar has a tricky approach, which sees her conserve energy throughout the fight and lay it all out in one final burst in the fifth.
Lee has eight submission wins in her career and seven of those happened in either the first or second round. The atomweight queen’s only submission win to happen after the second frame was her crazy fifth-round victory over Xiong to retain the ONE women’s atomweight world title.
Although she managed to secure the win in her second match against Xiong, Lee was also staggered a few times during the fight after getting ‘The Panda’ tagged her in the first four rounds.
#2. She should attack Xiong’s right side
Xiong is one of the best boxers in ONE Championship. Her main weapon of choice is the hammer of a right hand that she uses to stun her opponents in any way she wants.
The reigning ONE women’s strawweight world champion will always look for the opportunity to launch her world-ender of a punch, but Angela Lee would do well to nullify Xiong’s favorite strike.
Lee almost did just that in her first fight against Xiong when she secured a nasty armbar that almost tore off her rival’s right arm in the fourth. What Lee could do in the trilogy, though, is put constant striking pressure and force Xiong to use her jab instead of her more powerful right hand.
Of course, this is easier said than done, but Angela Lee has all the capabilities to pull this trick out of the bag and control the tempo against Xiong.
#1. Angela Lee must use her superior grappling
Angela Lee is one of the best grapplers in MMA history and her record of eight submissions in ONE Championship can attest to that.
The Singaporean-American is a wrestling state champion in Hawaii and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She’s used that foundation to stunning effect inside the circle.
Lee doesn’t just slam her opponents, she drags them down and twists them into positions that the human body should not even be doing.
The best highlight of her career, too, might just be the slam-to-submission she used to beat Xiong to retain the ONE women’s atomweight world title in October 2019. Lee was able to get Xiong’s back in the fifth and in one sweeping motion landed a textbook German suplex. Unstoppable’ then got on Xiong’s back and forced her to tap to a tight rear-naked choke.
Time and again we've seen how Angela Lee buries opponents with her grappling. It would be wise for her to resort to that once again in her third match against her rival.
