Chatri Sityodtong spent an hour answering questions from Thai fans last night. The ONE Championship head honcho covered a wide array of issues but the headline news is that he expects Angela Lee to retire.
She has not fought since the tragic death of her sister. Speaking in Thai he told fans on the hour long Facebook live stream that,
I spoke to Christian three or four days ago. He wants to come back 100%. But Angela probably won’t come back, she will probably retire.
Reigning champion
Lee is 26 years old and holds a record of 11-3. She is the reigning ONE Championship atomweight champion and the only fighter to have ever held this title.
Her last fight was at ONE Fight Night 2. She moved up a division to challenge Xiong Jing Nan for the strawweight title but was beaten by decision, coming up short in her second attempt to win this belt.
ONE Championship had already announced that an interim atomweight title will be introduced. Seo Hee Ham and Stamp Fairtex will face off with that belt on the line.
During the live stream Chatri revealed that a date and venue had already been confirmed for that contest. The two will face off in August although he didn’t specify which event the fight would take place at.
Proud mama 👩🍼✨ @angelaleemma #ONEX #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/IOX6dwH2xU
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 26, 2022
Extremely open
Chatri was extremely open with the Thai fans and suggested that reigning strawweight Muay Thai Champion Joseph Lasiri was ‘scared’. He said the Italian had turned down multiple fight offers.
Chatri also revealed that a ONE Championship event in Qatar was in the works. Demetrious Johnson is likely to face Mikey Musumeci in a submission grappling match on this card.
He also seemed to confirm that Rodtang Jitmuangnon would not be fighting Takeru next. The Thai already has a bout booked according to Chatri while he doesn’t expect the K-1 star to make his ONE Championship debut until the end of the year.
We don’t know who Rodtang will be fighting next but we do know how much he will earn. According to Chatri the reigning ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai champion is in line for a 10 million baht ($290,000 USD) pay day.
