Angela Seung Ju Pucci (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Lee, zh, 李胜珠, , born July 8, 1996), also known as Angela Lee Pucci, is a Canadian-born American combat sports mental health advocate and former professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. She competed in the

atomweight Atomweight (also referred to as light minimumweight, junior strawweight, junior mini-flyweight and pinweight) is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In women's boxing and junior amateur boxing pinweight is, or has been, a weight class for boxe ...

and

strawweight Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...

divisions of

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

, where she was the inaugural ONE Atomweight World Champion. Undefeated at atomweight, Lee successfully defended the belt five times before vacating the title when she retired from the sport in September 2023. She holds the record for longest-championship reign in ONE history at more than seven years. On May 5, 2016, Lee became the youngest person to ever win a world title in MMA by defeating

Mei Yamaguchi , formerly known by her ring name , is a Japanese female mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Her former nickname comes from the V1 armlock wrestling move. Yamaguchi currently fights as a Super Atomweight in the Rizin Fighting Federation promo ...

to win the inaugural ONE Atomweight World Championship at 19 years old and 9 months. When her younger brother Christian Lee won the

ONE Lightweight World Championship This is a list of ONE Championship champions in each weight division of each sport. Current champions , Xiong Jing Nan , align=center , January 20, 2018 , align=center , , align=center , 7 , - ! align=left , Atomweight , Denice Zamboang ...

in May 2019, they became the first sister-brother pair of mixed martial arts world champions. Following the death of her younger sister

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Lee announced her retirement from MMA at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 30, 2023.

Background

Lee was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

to a

Chinese-Singaporean Chinese Singaporeans, Singaporean Chinese or Sino-Singaporeans () are Singaporeans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 75.9% of the Singaporean resident population according to the official census, making them the large ...

father Ken Lee and a South Korean-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

mother Jewelz Lee. She moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

with her family at age 7. Her parents are both martial artists, so she began training at a young age and competing at age 6. Her younger brother

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

is also an MMA fighter and her other younger brother Adrian (born in

Waipahu Waipahu () is a former sugarcane Sugar plantations in Hawaii, plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu, Oahu in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawai ...

), also trains in martial arts. Lee's younger sister

, who was also a mixed martial artist signed to ONE, died in 2022 at the age of 18. In 2011, Angela Lee won her division at the USA Amateur pankration national championships, and the next year, she claimed her division at the World Pangration Athlima Federation world championships in Greece. Lee was awarded her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt on February 9, 2018, by third-degree black belt Mike Fowler and her father Ken Lee, who is also a black belt.

Mixed martial arts career

In 2014, Lee made her amateur debut, and in November of that year she won an amateur title by beating Audrey Perkins at Destiny MMA: Na Koa 7 in Honolulu to become the Destiny MMA strawweight champion.

ONE Championship

Lee signed with

in 2014 and made her promotional debut at ONE Championship 28: Warrior's Quest on May 22, 2015, submitting Aya Saber with an armbar in the opening round. She competes under Singapore flags. Following the win, Lee dropped out of college in Hawaii (she was studying business) and moved to Singapore to join

Evolve MMA Evolve Mixed Martial Arts is a chain of martial arts academies. Founded by Chatri Sityodtong, it opened in January 2009. The gym includes several former and reigning UFC and ONE Championship champions, including Demetrious Johnson, Rafael Dos Anj ...

. In her next fight, she used a rear naked choke hold to beat Mona Samir at ONE Championship: Odyssey of Champions on September 27, 2015, in the first round. Lee's third professional fight was at ONE Championship 33: Pride of Lions on November 13, 2015, and she submitted Natalie Gonzales Hills with a

twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

in the opening round in what commentators described as a potential submission of the year contender. She subsequently won the 2015 WMMA Press Award for Submission of the Year. Next, she faced Lena Tkhorevska at ONE Championship 36: Spirit of Champions on December 11, 2015, and won with a rear naked choke in the second round. Lee's first fight of 2016 was against Rebecca Heintzman at ONE Championship 39: Tribe of Warriors on February 20, 2016, and she won with a second round neck crank. Lee's reward for submitting her first five opponents was a shot at the inaugural ONE Championship Atomweight Women's Title against Japanese veteran

at ONE Championship 42: Ascent to Power on May 6, 2016. Winning the fight would make her the youngest-ever MMA world champion. Lee won the fight by unanimous decision to become the inaugural ONE Women's Atomweight Champion, and received a $68,200 SGD bonus for her performance. The MMA media described her fight with Yamaguchi as a Fight of the Year contender. She subsequently signed a new contract with ONE Championship. Commentators speculated that her new contract made Lee the highest paid teenager in the history of MMA, male or female. On March 11, 2017, Angela Lee defeated Jenny Huang of Taiwan and retained the Atomweight World Championship title. On May 27, 2017, she was successful in her second title defense against Istela Nunes of Brazil. On November 8, 2017,

Chatri Sityodtong Chatri Trisiripisal (, ), known by the ring names Chatri Sityodtong (, ) and Yodchatri Sityodtong (, ), is a Thai entrepreneur and martial arts instructor based in Singapore. He is best known for being the founder, chairman, and chief executive ...

announced that Angela Lee was involved in a serious car accident after she had reportedly fallen asleep at the wheel of her car. In 2023, Lee revealed that this was actually a deliberate suicide attempt. She managed to survive the incident with a concussion and minor burns. Lee's bout with

that was scheduled for November 24 was rescheduled to May 18, 2018, at One Championship Unstoppable Dreams in Singapore. Lee won via unanimous decision. Lee was expected to face reigning strawweight champion Jingnan Xiong at ONE Championship 78: Heart of the Lion on November 9, 2018, in an attempt to become the first female two-division champion in ONE Championship. However, on November 5, 2018, Lee revealed that she was forced off the card due to a back injury. The fight eventually happened on March 31, 2019, at One Championship 90: A New Era. Lee was defeated via TKO in round 5, which snapped her undefeated streak. At ONE Championship 96: Masters of Destiny, Angela Lee suffered another defeat at the hands of

Michelle Nicolini Michelle Zonato Nicolini or Michelle Nicolini (born January 5, 1982) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist (MMA). Among the most accomplished female grapplers of all time, Nicolini holds third place for most IBJJF Worl ...

, via unanimous decision. Lee next defended her ONE Atomweight Championship against Xiong Jingnan – whose Strawweight Championship Lee failed to capture – at ONE Championship 100: Century on October 13, 2019. She won the fight by submission in the fifth round. After pregnancy leave, Lee returned to defend her Atomweight title against ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix winner

Stamp Fairtex Nadthawan Panthong (, born November 16, 1997), known professionally as Stamp Fairtex (), is a Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist from Thailand. She is currently signed to ONE Championship, where she is the former ONE Women's Atomweigh ...

at ONE 155: X on March 26, 2022. Surviving an early scare in the first round after being hurt by a liver punch, she won the bout via submission in the second round. In April 2022,

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix is a mixed martial arts ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. Software According to website, "The rankings on this site are software generated, produced by a proprietary engine (CIRRS � ...

ranked Lee the #12 female strawweight (121.9 lbs and below) in the world. Lee challenged Xiong Jingnan for the ONE Women's Strawweight Championship at

ONE on Prime Video 2 ''ONE on Prime Video 2: Xiong vs. Lee 3 '' (also known as ''ONE Fight Night 2'' outside North America) was a combat sport event produced by ONE Championship that took place on October 1, 2022 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. ...

on September 30, 2022. She lost the fight by unanimous decision. At ONE Fight Night 14 on September 30, 2023, Lee announced her retirement from mixed martial arts and vacated the title during the event. Speaking to

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, she said, "It's just really tough because my sister was also a fighter, my whole family is fighters, my dad was our coach. And because everything was so, I guess, intertwined and connected that's one of the big factors hyI'm stepping away, because it's just very difficult to go on." As a result, the interim title bout between

and Ham Seo-hee at the event was promoted to be for the vacant title.

Personal life

Lee holds American and Canadian citizenship. She is married to fellow mixed martial artist

Bruno Pucci Bruno Francisco Vicentini Pucci (born July 23, 1990) known professionally as Bruno Pucci is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who holds a black belt and is best known for winning gold in the featherweight division at the 2009 and ...

. On October 1, 2020, Lee announced on her social media that she was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter in April 2021. Both Lee and her husband are head coaches at United BJJ Hawaii, a gym that they founded in 2021. The opening of their gym was delayed by several days as the result of vandalism just prior to the date. Lee's younger brother

is the reigning

ONE Lightweight World Champion This is a list of ONE Championship champions in each weight division of each sport. Current champions , Xiong Jing Nan , align=center , January 20, 2018 , align=center , , align=center , 7 , - ! align=left , Atomweight , Denice Zamboan ...

and

ONE Welterweight World Champion This is a list of ONE Championship champions in each weight division of each sport. Current champions , Xiong Jing Nan , align=center , January 20, 2018 , align=center , , align=center , 7 , - ! align=left , Atomweight , Denice Zamboan ...

. Her youngest sibling,

, made her successful MMA debut at the age of 16 on February 26, 2021. On January 7, 2023, Lee announced on Instagram that Victoria had died on December 26, 2022. The Lees shut down their family-owned MMA training facility in

Waipahu, Hawaii Waipahu () is a former sugarcane Sugar plantations in Hawaii, plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu, Oahu in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawai ...

, and said it would remain permanently closed. On September 19, 2023, Lee wrote in an article on the Players' Tribune that her 2017 car crash in Hawaii was a suicide attempt, and also revealed that her sister Victoria, who died in 2022 at the age of 18, had taken her own life. These incidents motivated her to set up a non-profit organisation, FIGHTSTORY, putting out podcast and videos on mental health, as well as a programme to help people with their nutrition and physical health.

Championships and accomplishments

Pankration

*World Pangration Athlima Federation World Championships: **2012 Agon (full contact) Girls, 16-17 yrs, 58 kg - Champion. **2012 Semi (semi contact) Girls, Juniors, 58 kg - Champion.

Folkstyle wrestling

* HHSAA Wrestling Circuit ** 2013, 121 lbs, Girls - Champion.

Mixed martial arts

*Amateur Career **Destiny MMA Women's Strawweight Championship (One time) *

** ONE Women's Atomweight World Championship (One time; inaugural) ***Five successful title defenses *** Longest-championship reign in ONE history (2,703 days) **

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

(One time) ** 2016 Fight of the Year vs.

**2022 MMA Fight of the Year * '
WMMA Press Association
'' ** 2015 Newcomer of the Year ** 2015 Submission of the Year vs. Natalie Gonzales Hills *

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

**2018 Comeback of the Year vs.

at ONE Championship: Unstoppable Dreams *

MMAJunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and has been owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine, ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''Th ...

** 2016 May Fight of the Month vs.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 11–3 ,

Xiong Jing Nan Xiong Jingnan (; born January 12, 1988) is a Chinese mixed martial artist. She is the inaugural and reigning ONE Women's Strawweight World Champion. She is also the first ever Chinese World Champion in mixed martial arts history. Background ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE: X , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:50 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE: Century – Part 1 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 4:48 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Masters of Destiny , , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 ,

, TKO (body kicks and punches) , ONE: A New Era , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 1:37 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Unstoppable Dreams , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Istela Nunes , Submission (anaconda choke) , ONE: Dynasty of Heroes , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:18 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Jenny Huang , TKO (punches) , ONE: Warrior Kingdom , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:37 ,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Thailand , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Ascent to Power , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Rebecca Heintzman , Submission (neck crank) , ONE: Tribe of Warriors , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:08 ,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, Indonesia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Lena Tkhorevska , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE: Spirit of Champions , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:26 ,

Manila, Philippines Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Natalie Gonzales Hills , Submission (twister) , ONE: Pride of Lions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:24 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Mona Samir , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ONE: Odyssey of Champions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:49 ,

, Indonesia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Aya Saber , Submission (armbar) , ONE: Warrior's Quest , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:43 ,

, Singapore , , -

References

External links

Angela Lee
at

ONE 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Angela 1996 births Lee siblings Living people Singaporean female mixed martial artists Canadian female mixed martial artists American female mixed martial artists Canadian female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners American female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Canadian female taekwondo practitioners American female taekwondo practitioners Canadian people of Chinese descent American people of Chinese descent Canadian people of Korean descent American people of Korean descent Canadian people of Singaporean descent American people of Singaporean descent Canadian expatriates in the United States Atomweight mixed martial artists Strawweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Hawaii Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing pankration Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Martial artists from Vancouver ONE Championship champions ONE Championship mixed martial artists 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century Canadian sportswomen