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Vancouver-born Angela Lee retains One women's atomweight championship

Vancouver-born Angela Lee retains atomweight title

BANGKOK — Vancouver-born Angela Lee retained the One women's atomweight world championship on Saturday with a victory over judo black belt Jenny Huang.

The 20-year-old Lee pushed forward from the first minute, and landed some powerful kicks and straight punches that had the Tianjin Top Team recruit backpedalling. Lee's reach advantage let her dictate the distance, and her strikes connected repeatedly.

Lee landed a stunning left hook and followed up with a blistering flurry with just under two minutes remaining in the first round. Huang displayed her grit, as she held on and continued counter punching, but the champ finished the opening round with precision striking.

The second started with Huang missing a spinning back fist. That allowed Lee to take the centre of the cage and pour on the pressure. She moved forward and landed another steady stream of kicks, knees, and punches. Much like round one, she showed her improved striking game and landed a veritable onslaught.

For the first time in the fight, the ladies touched gloves to start round three. Huang continued to throw counter strikes, but they came at the cost of powerful blows from Lee.

Lee abandoned the stand-up fight and took the bout to the canvas with nearly two and a half minutes left. Lee went to work, took the back of a flattened-out Huang, and teed off with ground and pound from the back mount.

After several unanswered shots, the referee was forced to step in and stop the punishment at 3:37 of the third round due to strikes.

Lee, the youngest champion in MMA history, was successful in her first title defence. She remains undefeated at 7-0.

Huang suffered her first career loss and drops to 5-1.

The Canadian Press