ONE Championship: Chatri has ‘not talked fights at all’ with Angela, Christian Lee as their absence is felt at US debut

ONE Championship will make its debut on US soil with a stacked event in Denver, Colorado this Friday (May 5), but it will do so without two of its biggest stars: Hawaii-based siblings Angela and Christian Lee.

Angela and Christian’s absence from the card is no surprise.

Their 18-year-old sister Victoria – also a ONE fighter – died last December, and the siblings and their family have been in mourning ever since.

Speaking to the Post after Wednesday’s ONE Fight Night 10 pre-fight press conference, the promotion’s CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong admitted that, when his team began planning for a US debut several years ago, the Lee siblings were an important part of their designs.

“In my original plans, years ago, Angela Lee and Christian Lee would be fighting on the US debut,” he said.

“I didn’t even raise it or talk to them about it,” he added. “I just feel like the best thing we can do as fans and as an organisation is to support them in their time of grieving. It’s a long process.”

Angela, 26, has long reigned as ONE’s atomweight MMA champion, while Christian, 24, holds the promotion’s welterweight and lightweight MMA titles.