On 1 October 2023, MMA fighter Angela Lee stunned fans with a shocking announcement — she was retiring after an 8-year run. The five-time belt defender announced this during a ONE Championship event in Singapore, and shed a few emotional tears while laying her championship belt on the ground.
Whether you’ve been a long time fan of the “Unstoppable” Angela Lee or only knew of her recently, here are 20 facts about the retired MMA fighter, who has since shifted her focus to advocate for mental health among fighters.
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Angela was born on 8 July 1996 as Angela Seung Ju Lee, to a Singaporean Chinese father and a South Korean born Canadian mother.
She also goes by her fighter nickname “Unstoppable”, that was given to her by her father.
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She was born in Vancouver, then moved to Hawaii with her family when she was 7. Angela now holds Canadian-American citizenship.
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Angela is the oldest of four siblings, with one younger sister Victoria and two younger brothers Christian and Adrian. FYI, all of them are into martial arts too — you wouldn’t want to mess with this family.
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If you’re wondering how all four Lee siblings got into martial arts together, it’s because both of their parents were trained in martial arts too. Angela started training from as early as 6 years old.
According to an interview with ONE, Angela’s father, Ken Lee, shared that he originally introduced Angela and Christian to martial arts for self-defence purposes.
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What started off as just a self-defence lesson quickly became a spark for both Angela and Christian — the siblings soon decided that they wanted to join the sport competitively. As someone who holds black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Pankration and Taekwondo, Ken Lee trained all four of his children.
Sharing with ONE, Ken says, “this is something they love and something they want. It is not something I push them on. I have told everybody that if they tell me this is not what they want to do, then that is it.”
Angela made her amateur debut in November 2014 and won the amateur title, becoming the Destiny MMA strawweight champion. She was only 18 back then — it was just the beginning of the “Unstoppable” martial artist’s career.
In 2016, Angela was only 19 when she won a world title in MMA at the ONE Atomweight World Championship. This achievement marked her as the youngest person to ever win such a huge title.
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In 2019, Angela’s younger brother Christian won the ONE Lightweight World Championship. This made them the first sister-brother pair of MMA world champions.
A bonus for fans? Seeing the siblings continuously cheer on each other on their Instagram pages, making it extra heartwarming to root for them both.
Angela signed with ONE Championship in 2014 and holds the record for the longest championship reign in ONE history of more than seven years.
As someone who was born overseas and comes from a mixed background, Angela is eligible to represent in at least four different countries. However, the majority of her fights were here in our Little Red Dot.
When asked why, Angela shared with ONEFC, “I love fighting in Singapore. I feel like I always have the hometown advantage.”
From proudly flying the Singapore flag when she fights to embracing her father’s culture, to Angela, this is home, truly.
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Angela was exposed to many different types of martial arts since she was young, following her father in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Pankration and Taekwondo. In 2018, she was awarded a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, aka the expert level of skill.
Angela married Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt holder Bruno Pucci when she was just 22. The lovebirds first met as teammates on the Evolve Fight Team and quickly fell in love.
Now, they continue to train in martial arts together — a typical date might just be them throwing a few punches or kicks in the ring.
In 2021, Angela gave birth to their daughter, Ava Marie Pucci.
She posted an emotional Mother’s Day post on Instagram in 2023, sharing, “my life changed when I became a mom. Motherhood has given me the most joy I’ve ever felt and it’s also stretched me and caused me to grow beyond my comfort zone.”
You’d think that someone who experiences getting punched and kicked often in their career would have a high pain tolerance. But Angela shared that childbirth was actually the most pain that she had ever felt in her life.
In an interview with Honeykids, Angela shared that she originally wanted an unmedicated birth. But when her water broke, she wasn’t fully dilated and had to take an epidural to manage the pain.
There’s no such thing as no kick, both in her career and as a mother.
After giving birth, Angela took a 2.5-year hiatus. But the fight queen came back in 2022 after a title defence against Stamp Fairtex, making her ONE Championship’s first ever Mom Champ. She made her winning speech while holding her daughter Ava in her arms — a total girlboss move.
Having to fly to and fro for competitions, Angela and her family of three actually live together in Hawaii. Both she and her husband Bruno are head coaches at United BJJ Hawaii, a martial arts gym they founded together in 2021.
On 1 October 2023, Angela made a shocking announcement — she was retiring at just 27.
Throughout her 8-year career and defending the belt five times before vacating the title, Angela emotionally expressed her gratitude to the fans, fighters, and teams she worked with. She shared on Instagram, “even though I’m done fighting in the cage, that fire is still in me, burning bright.”
Angela then presented the belt to the new Atomweight World Champion, Stamp Fairtex.
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Disclaimer: this content discusses suicide and contains descriptions of a suicide attempt.
In December 2022, Angela’s younger sister Victoria took her own life. In honour of Victoria, Angela founded Fight Story, a non-profit mental health organisation based in Hawaii for fighters to share their struggles and stories.
Following her retirement as a MMA fighter, Angela promised to redirect her energy to Fight Story and save lives.
Disclaimer: this content discusses suicide and contains descriptions of a suicide attempt.
In September 2023, Angela admitted that her car crash in 2017 wasn’t an accident, but a deliberate suicide attempt. As she became the youngest female ONE Championship world champion at that point, she felt the pressure to keep defending her title.
Angela was only 20 years old then, and felt that she would rather take herself out of the fight than to fail.
“At one point, when everyone else in my house was asleep, I went to the bathroom and literally tried to break my own arm. Then I tried to give myself a concussion,” Angela wrote on The Players’ Tribune.
When those didn’t work, Angela got into her car at around 4am and drove towards a gulch with a deep drop. She survived the car crash, and only told the truth of her suicide attempt to her husband, Bruno.
Angela strongly believes that she is still here today so that she can share her story with others who are struggling the same way that she was. Fight Story is a promise to others that even though they may feel alone in their fight with mental health, they are not.
Angela shared her personal mental health tip on The Players’ Tribune — writing. She often writes letters to herself detailing her struggles and her feelings. Then, she’ll make a list of 10 things to be grateful for at that moment.
“I’ve come to learn that this life, it’s life. It’s about growing and learning to accept yourself.”
Despite retiring, it’s safe to say that Angela Lee will always be a fighter to us, whether it’s in the ring or advocating for mental health. Through the ups and downs of her journey, Angela’s inspirational words have taught us that we are never alone in our battles, and there is so much of ourselves to love and be grateful for every day.
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