AS Formula 1 fever sweeps across Singapore this weekend, mixed martial arts champion Angela Lee is facing a very different adrenaline rush as she prepares to face Xiong Jing Nan in the headline bout of One Championship’s live event on Saturday morning (Oct 1).

The doors to the Singapore Indoor Stadium open bright and early at 7 am that day and the action begins an hour later, with the show – ONE on Prime Video 2 – beamed on prime time in the US and Canada on Friday night.

There are 10 fights in all, but all eyes will be on the main event as Angela Lee, the reigning women’s atomweight world champion, faces China’s Xiong with the latter’s strawweight world title on the line. If the 26-year-old Lee wins, she will become One Championship’s first female world champion in 2 weight classes.

This is the third part of a trilogy between Lee and Xiong, with each winning once. In March 2019, Lee – born in Canada to a Singaporean dad and a South Korean mum – lost her first bid to take Xiong’s strawweight belt when she lost via a technical knockout.

In the rematch in October that year, Xiong challenged Lee for her atomweight title, and it was Lee who claimed a big win with a rear-naked choke submission in the fifth and final round with just 12 seconds left on the clock.

“Going up to (the) strawweight (division) and capturing this second belt has been a goal of mine for many years now,” said Lee, whose nickname is “Unstoppable”, at a press conference at the Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. “It’s a historical moment and I’m honoured to get another opportunity. I’m definitely going to take advantage of this on Saturday.”

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Xiong admitted that there was “definitely some pressure” on her shoulders. “I have the motivation to win. I’ve prepared well for this fight, be it grappling or striking, and I hope to make an interesting fight. I acknowledge Angela’s striking ability, but I also have my ultimate weapon. I will show everyone (on Saturday).”

Earlier in the week on Monday, Lee took a short break from her fight preparations to meet 17-year-old Filipino race driver Bianca Bustamante at the Evolve MMA gym at Far East Square. Bustamante, who is 17, is a W Series Formula 3 driver who will be making her professional racing debut in Asia as she speeds along the Marina Bay street circuit on Sunday.

Each gamely tried out the other’s sport, with Lee showing the teenager some basic MMA moves and techniques in the cage, and Bustamante giving Lee the lowdown on how to race and navigate a circuit on a simulator.

“Angela is an inspiration to not only women athletes like me, but to young kids aspiring to excel in sports all over the world,” said Bustamante. “I hope I can be a world champion like her one day, and encourage lots of young women to go for their dreams.”

There are 2 other world championship matches taking place at the One Championship show on Saturday. The featherweight kickboxing world champion Singha Mawynn battles Tayfun Ozcan, and grapplers Mikey Musumeci and Cleber Sousa will compete to become One Championship’s first submission grappling world champion.