It’s no secret that mixed martial arts is dominated by fighters competing in the UFC out in the wild West, but Asian MMA has made some enormous strides as of late as far as the popularity of the sport goes. Global MMA promotions like M1 and ONE Championship are bringing MMA to prominence on the other side of the world and it’s just absolutely tremendous for fight fans.
With the rise of the sport in Asia comes inevitably the birth of Asian MMA superstars — the next generation of fighters who are on the cusp of breakout performances and worldwide recognition.
Here are 5 of the best Asia-based MMA fighters.
Angela Lee
Competes in: ONE Championship
In such a male-dominated sport, it’s ironic we start off this list with a woman. While women’s MMA has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity recently, it’s just beginning to get up to scratch in Asia where old-fashioned stereotypes and barriers still plague the region. One female who is working to break those barriers is ONE Championship female atomweight champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee.
Although Lee was born in Canada and raised in Hawaii, she has very strong ties to her roots in Singapore as she spends her time training at Evolve MMA. At just 20-years of age, Lee still has a ways to go before she is even considered among the top female fighters in the world. She’s pretty big in Asia though, and at an unbeaten 6-0 clip — five of which have come by submission — Lee has definitely impressed and it seems only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches on.
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