Angela Lee, Joseph Schooling set to light up Singapore Indoor Stadium

SINGAPORE – Get set for an electrifying night of Mixed-Martial Arts (MMA) action this Friday (May 26) when Asia’s top promotion ONE Championship rolls into town with ONE: Dynasty of Heroes.

Headlining an exciting card at the 12,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium will be the much-anticipated five-round women’s atomweight championship clash between Singapore’s very own Angela “Unstoppable” Lee and Brazilian contender Istela Nunes.

On Friday, Lee, 20, will be accompanied into the ring by local sporting golden boy, reigning Olympic swim champion Joseph Schooling, who has returned home from his studies in Texas, Austin, just to cheer Lee on.

“We’re now heading in our own turf of Singapore with the event on May 26,” said Chatri Sityodtong , the chairman and founder of Singapore-based MMA promoters ONE Championship.

“I would say this is probably our biggest card that we’ve ever had in terms of our championship titles and in terms of the significance for the sport.

“We have an absolutely stacked card from top to bottom planned for Singapore, and it will be a night fans will not want to miss.”

LEE STARS IN MAIN EVENT

Considered as the face of women’s MMA in Asia, Lee is one of ONE Championship’s most outstanding athletes regardless of gender or weight class.

The 20-year-old MMA sensation made history in May 2016 by capturing the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship belt with an awe-inspiring victory over Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi.

Lee’s beautiful combination of elite striking and grappling skills has proven to be a potent formula for success as she has remained unbeaten inside the ONE Championship cage.

In her last trip to the cage, Lee dominated top contender Jenny Huang of Taiwan with a masterful display of striking to successfully defend her gold-plated belt.

“Angela Lee, ever the true champion and warrior, just came off a thrilling performance a little over two months ago. She is already raring to get back inside the ONE Championship cage to perform for her hometown crowd,” Chatri said of Lee.

In the other corner, Nunes is a two-time Muay Thai world champion with an unblemished 6-0 professional win-loss record.

Nunes’ exciting style and knack for delivering powerful strikes makes for exciting fights and is one of the biggest components of her game.

The 24-year-old Brazilian striker took on Yamaguchi in her last outing, winning a closely-contested split decision.

At her best, Nunes is a well-rounded combatant with a solid striking and grappling skillset that gave her two career wins by finish.

With both ladies having the pressure of putting their unscathed prizefighting slates on the line, Chatri believes that Lee is in for a tough night against Nunes.

“Istela Nunes is ready to give Angela Lee a stiff challenge as the division’s top contender. This is going to be a really great match-up. I think it’s going to test Angela at the highest levels that she’s ever been. Nunes is a phenomenal opponent. It’s going to be an exciting fight for fans,” he stressed.

SUPPORTING BOUTS

Aside from the main event, ONE: Dynasty of Heroes will feature another title fight Ben “Funky” Askren stakes his ONE Welterweight World Championship title against Malaysian prospect Agilan “The Alligator” Thani.

Askren is widely-regarded as one of the best welterweight in mixed martial arts (MMA) today and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The 32-year-old native of Phoenix, Arizona holds an unblemished professional MMA record of 15-0 with four knockout victories and four submission wins.

Askren is highly regarded for his outstanding wrestling background that earned him two NCAA Division I national championship trophies, and the privilege to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Askren made an impact in his first two assignments in ONE Championship, submitting Bakhtiyar Abbasov with an arm-triangle choke in his May 2014 promotional debut before thwarting Nobutatsu Suzuki in the first round to claim the coveted welterweight crown three months later.

Askren is coming off a unanimous decision triumph over Russia’s Nikolay Aleksakhin in April last year, keeping his immaculate MMA record intact and the ONE Welterweight World Championship belt around his waist.

However, Agilan is aiming to hand Askren his first-ever professional defeat.

The 21-year-old standout from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is a perfect 7-0 as a professional, with five of his seven victories ending in the first round.

Also featuring on Friday are Singaporean homegrown talents Amir Khan and Tiffany Teo.

Khan is booked to duke it out with India’s Rajinder Singh Meena, while Teo shares the ONE Championship cage with American veteran Rebecca Heintzman.

With several other international MMA superstars slated on the card, Chatri guarantees that Friday will be a night to remember.

“May 26 in Singapore is going to be a massive, massive event,” the ONE Championship boss said. “We are going to have a crazy card for the fans in the Singapore. You’ve got to come out and show your love. We’re going to see some fireworks. It will probably be our biggest event in history.”

*For ticketing information of ONE: Dynasty of Heroes, visit www.onefc.com