History beckoning at ONE Singapore event

History beckoning at ONE Singapore event

History beckoning at ONE Singapore event

History beckoning at ONE Singapore event

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A BIG night awaits the Singapore mixed martial arts scene today at ONE Championship’s “Unstoppable Dreams” event as potentially the country could wind up with two world champions after everything is said and done.

Angela “The Unstoppable” Lee, the reigning ONE women’s atomweight champion, battles anew Japanese Mei “V.V.” Yamaguchi in the headlining fight for the marquee event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium while Christian “The Warrior” Lee, Angela’s brother, takes his shot at the world featherweight title in a rematch with reigning champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen of Australia.

The Lee siblings, if they get to win their respective fights, are to become the first brother-sister MMA champions, the significance of which is not lost to them.

“I hope the country (Singapore) goes nuts for what we are trying to achieve. We are making history and this is something that has not been done before. It’s also an opportunity for me to show what women MMA fighters can do,” said Ms. Lee in an interview with sports media early this week in Singapore.

“This is a blessing. We are happy and grateful for the opportunity given to us. It’s really like a fairy tale and we are going to try to have a fairy-tale ending on Friday,” she added.

Zeroing in on her fight with Ms. Yamaguchi, who she beat in May 2016 for the title by a close unanimous decision, Ms. Lee (8-0) said she is expecting another tough fight.

“This fight is going to be one for the books. Our first fight was dubbed ‘fight of the year’ for a reason. We both showed a lot of heart and determination and we won the respect of the people because of that fight,” she said.

“This time around it’s going to be different. We are going to bring out the best from each other but we both made improvements since the last fight. And you guys are going to see that come fight night,” Ms. Lee added.

EYE ON THE WORLD TITLE

For Mr. Lee, meanwhile, the title shot he has given is something he is very much thankful for and keen on taking full advantage of.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity given to me by ONE Championship to compete for the title,” said Mr. Lee (9-1), whose lone defeat came at the hands of Mr. Nguyen, also the ONE lightweight champion, in August 2016 by way of technical submission (guillotine choke).

“I’m focusing on the world title and at the same time redeem myself from the loss I had against Martin. I have been training hard and I’m confident heading to the title fight,” he added.

Also serving as co-main event for ONE: Unstoppable Dreams is the ONE Super Series muay thai flyweight world championship clash between Sam-A Gaiyanghadao of Thailand and Sergio Wielzen of the Netherlands.

Fighting as well in the event is Filipino MMA star Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, the former lightweight champion who is angling to get redemption after losing his belt to Mr. Nguyen last November.

“I’m going to show that I’m not yet done, that I still have a lot to give to the game and as a fighter. That’s my primary motivation,” shared Mr. Folayang, who is going up against Russian prospect Karun Atlangeriev .

Seeing action too are Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex of Thailand against Chris Ngimbi of Congo in ONE Super Series kickboxing battle; Shinya Aoki of Japan versus Rasul Yakhyaev of Russia; and hometown Amir Khan against Sung Jong Lee of South Korea.

ONE: Unstoppable Dreams can be viewed on the newly launched ONE Championship mobile app which is available for both Android and iOS platforms for free. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo