Angela Lee had a second world title within her grasp.
Moving up in weight to challenge for the strawweight world title, the Mililani alumna had opponent Xiong Jing Nan locked in a reverse triangle and pulled her arm away from her body to set up what looked like a submission victory in the co-main event of One Championship: A New Era on Sunday night in Tokyo.
There were more than 90 seconds remaining on the clock in the fourth round at Ryogoku Kokugikan and all that was left was the tap. It never came, as miraculously, Jing Nan survived the round despite her arm looking ready to split into two.
Lee was gassed to start the final five minutes and Jing Nan took advantage, going to the body for the vicious end as she defended her 125-pound title by fifth-round TKO in a back-and-forth war.
A left kick to the body made Lee wince and after it was evident she had nothing left in the tank, Jing Nan threw another punch to the body that made Lee buckle and turn around. Jing Nan put her on the cage with more punches and the referee stopped the fight at 1 minute, 37 seconds before Lee was knocked down.
“I put it all on the line and gave it all I had in that fourth round, trying to finish her with the triangle/armbar,” Lee said as part of a statement she released on social media. “When it came to the fifth round, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank. No excuses.”
It was the first professional loss for the 22-year-old Lee (9-1, 9-1), who is the organization’s 115-pound world champion. She moved up in weight to attempt to become the first woman in One Championship to win a world title in multiple weight classes. She remains the atomweight titleholder.
“Angela Lee is a good athlete and you see my cut so it is a tough fight,” Jing Nan said through a translator after the fight.
Lee was absent from the postfight conference while Jing Nan, who was swollen around both eyes and had a small cut under her left eye, talked about the near-armbar finish.
“(I) faced the reserve triangle and armbar before so the people who know (me) know that (I) will never ever tap unless the opponents choke (me) out or break (my) arm,” Jing Nan said. “Of course, (my) coach said they didn’t encourage (me) to do that but (I’m) very happy that (I) could escape the submission.”
Jing Nan improved to 14-1 in her career and 5-0 in One with her 10th win by stoppage.
“I would put Jing Nan against any female strawweight in the world. She’s very modest and humble but I think her 15-1 record speaks for itself,” One Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong said. “She’s an absolute beast and today she showed she’s a true world champ. How many world champions can come from that adversity and come back and knock Angela out? That’s incredible. I think she’s No. 1 or No. 2 in the world.”
Lee fought for just the second time in 22 months. A back injury pushed back the original fight scheduled between the two in November. She also was involved in a serious car accident in November 2017 that kept her out of action.
Sityodtong said after the fight that it might not be the last time Lee sees Jing Nan inside a cage.
“If I’m not mistaken I think Jing Nan wants to go down and challenge Angela for her world title,” he said. “I think there’s going to be a rivalry in the future for sure. If Jing Nan wants to fight Angela at atomweight let’s do it.”
