Angela Lee Retires Following Suicide Revelations, Sterling Calls Out O’Malley For A Rematch

In the MMA latest updates, Angela Lee has announced her retirement from ONE Championship.

The news came at the ONE Fight Night 14 event on the back end of her revelations about attempting suicide in 2017. Her disclosure came in the aftermath of her own mental health struggles, which were compounded by the suicide of her sister Victoria who ended her life in December 2022.

And since then, she has become vocal about mental health in order to give back to those who may be going through similar struggles. With that being said, she felt it was the right time to walk away from the sport.

Lee Retires

“I’m here today to officially announce my retirement. It has been an incredible eight years. I just want to say thank you to the fans, to ONE Championship, to Chatri (Sityodtong), to my teams, and to just everyone. There have been so many battles in and out of the cage.

“The last thing I want to say is this, to the fighters and to everyone out there watching right now. The greatest battle that we’ll ever face won’t be with an opponent standing in front of us. The greatest battle will be within ourselves. We all go through struggles, but we all fight. Each day, we’re victorious when we choose to rise up in the face of adversity. So thank you guys so much. I love you. Thank you,” Lee said 

Lee’s Legacy

Lee has managed to achieve what most fighters never will in the sport. The 27-year-old made her debut in 2015 when she was just 18 years old.

That showed the huge potential she had at the time, as she remained unbeaten in her career with an 8-0 record. This culminated in her winning a title after beating the champion at the time, Mei Yamaguchi, in 2018 via a unanimous decision.

Thereafter, he career was never the same. Lee’s first defense was against Jingnag Xiong. However that ended in a loss. This was then followed by another defeat to Michelle Nicolini.

Despite consecutive losses, Fairtex managed to bounce back with a win over Stamp Fairtex. However, her last fight ultimately ended in defeat as she came second best to Xiong in the rematch. While there was no shame in the loss, it ultimately proved to be the last time that fans will see Lee in the sport.

Sterling Calls Out O’Malley

Meanwhile, Aljamain Sterling has called out Sean O’Malley following his win over Mike Grundy at a grappling event for Polaris 25.

Sterling bounced back from his loss to O’Malley when the latter stopped him in the second round to win the bantamweight title at UFC 292.

His performance against Grundy, though, was not as dominant as he may have wanted as he secured a decision win. While the win was needed as a confidence booster, Sterling was already looking ahead to the next step by getting his payback on O’Malley.

“I got a message for Mr. Suga T*** because he’s still that to me. Hey, give me my rematch or fight Merab [Dvalishvili]. It’s that simple. Stop ducking the top contenders and be a man and be a real champion. Fight the best of the best. That’s what I did and now you need to turn around and do the same exact s***. Let’s go,” Sterling

O’Malley’s Future

Nevertheless, O’Malley does not appear too keen on having a rematch. Following his win, he dismissed the idea on the basis that the fight was not even close.

In addition, the MMA fighter’s focus was on a crossover fight with Gervonta Davis. O’Malley called out Tank in a fight that got the attention of Davis’ trainer.

Not only that, but O’Malley also called out Chito Vera for a rematch. That was the only loss of O’Malley’s career, something which he was keen to avenge.

However, if the rematch with O’Malley does not happen, Sterling wants his stablemate Merab Dvalishvili to have a shot at the title.

The latter has won his last nine fights, including wins over former world champions Petr Yan and Jose Aldo. So either way, there are plenty of options available for both of the fighters moving forward.