Lee, Nguyen retain titles in close rematches at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams

Second fight, same verdict.

Two years after she claimed the ONE strawweight crown in a five-round grappling extravaganza with Mei Yamaguchi by unanimous decision, Angela Lee survived a late rally from the Japanese vet to win another one-sided call in the main event of ONE: Unstoppable Dreams on Friday in Singapore.

A horrific car accident had prompted the 21-year-old to withdraw from the rematch this past November, but Lee valiantly channeled the emotion she plainly wore to the cage into a stellar performance that marked her third successful defense of the 115-pound strap.

The champ handily walked Yamaguchi down and let her combinations rip to take the first round, but made it a grappling match in the second, bringing Yamaguchi to the mat and nearly relieving her of a limb with an armbar the veteran eventually escaped. Lee intermittently scored points with strikes from the clinch throughout the early rounds and nearly put the challenger away again late in the third with a rear-naked choke attempt, but Yamaguchi’s designs on revenge would not be thwarted easily.

The compact 35-year-old had found success on the feet by timing the taller Lee’s low kicks with the right hand, and landed one that planted Lee to the canvas in Round 4 — which she secured by chewing the clock with top control. Knowing she’d have to put Lee away to get her hand raised, Yamaguchi blitzed her at the top of the fifth, putting Lee on her hind parts with a flurry capped by a high kick, and while she managed to repeat her exploits from the previous round, Lee remained active off her back and made it to the final bell to hear announcer Dominic Lau bellow the words “and still.”

Lee’s record remained unblemished with the judges’ call, while Yamaguchi — the only woman to take her the distance — saw a two-fight win streak snapped.

Lee’s brother Christian couldn’t complete the sibling sweep, however, as two-division champ Martin Nguyen fought through some early scares to defend his featherweight crown in a razor-close split decision.

The 19-year-old Lee nearly avenged his 2016 submission loss to Nguyen with one of his own in Round 1, trapping the champ in a guillotine choke as he defended a takedown attempt. Nguyen’s subsequent escape was promptly met with a D’Arce choke from the challenger, one he coolly worked his way out of to see the second frame.

Nguyen stuffed every one of Lee’s ensuing attempts to bring the action to the mat, but struggled to consistently hit pay dirt with his patented overhand right through the tepid middle rounds, landing little of consequence other than a two-piece that clearly caught Lee’s attention in Round 2. The titlist resorted to his offensive wrestling in the fourth, scoring a beautifully timed takedown and uncorking ground-and-pound on the challenger to close it out, then resumed chopping away at Lee’s lead leg with blistering kicks to neutralize the challenger in the fifth.

The 29-year-old rebounded from a failed bid to dethrone bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes in his first title defense. Lee’s only losses in 11 pro bouts have come opposite Nguyen.

A pair of ex-lightweight titleholders got back in the win column on Friday’s bill, as Shinya Aoki tapped ACB vet Rasul Yakhyaev with a triangle choke in under four minutes of work and Eduard Folayang outdueled Kharun Atlangeriev from first bell to last.

The 35-year-old submission artist bore shades of his former self — sans his patented tights — regaling those in attendance with flying armbar and omoplata attempts before slapping on the fight-ending triangle at the 3:15 mark.

Aoki’s 25th career submission snapped a two-fight skid comprising knockouts courtesy of Folayang and since-retired ex-welterweight king Ben Askren.

Speaking of Folayang, the Filipino outstruck Atlangeriev and shucked off his takedown attempts to claim a unanimous verdict. The 33-year-old rebounded from a brutal knockout loss suffered at Nguyen’s hands in November — one that cost him the lightweight crown — and handed Atlangeriev his first career defeat with the decision.

In yet another 155-pound clash, Singapore’s Amir Khan dispatched a game Sung Jong Lee by TKO at 3:39 of the second stanza. Khan treated Lee to an ungodly amount of punishment, and while the Korean did his damnedest to make it a slugfest and found a home for his haymakers on more than one occasion, an ill-fated leg lock attempt proved his last stand, as Khan pounced with ground-and-pound until the referee stepped in for the save.

See the bill’s full results below:

Strawweight Championship Bout: Angela Lee (9–0) def. Mei Yamaguchi (17–11–1) via unanimous decision
Featherweight Championship Bout: Martin Nguyen (11–2) def. Christian Lee (9–2) via split decision
Lightweight Bout: Shinya Aoki (40–8) def. Rasul Yakhyaev (11–7) via submission (triangle choke) at 3:15 of Round 1
Lightweight Bout: Eduard Folayang (19–6) def. Kharun Atlangeriev (11–1) via unanimous decision
Lightweight Bout: Amir Khan (10–3) def. Sung Jong Lee (4–2) via TKO at 3:39 of Round 2
Featherweight Bout: Chao Xie (9–3) def. Meas Meu (6–2) via TKO at 1:10 of Round 3
Bantamweight Bout: Xie Bin (4–1) def. Shi Hao Huang (0–1) via TKO at 2:25 of Round 2
Bantamweight Bout: Sunoto Peringkat (9–3) def. Roel Rosauro (4–3) via unanimous decision

Watch Friday’s action in its entirety here.