Fight Club

- Cheryl Ong

“He’s my bodyguard. He’s always with me,” says Angela Lee, when we meet the mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter-slash-world champ for this interview, ahead of her ONE Championship rematch with Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi for the women’s atom weight title. Four days later, Angela would go on to clinch her third successful title defense in what she calls “a hard earned victory over a very game opponent”. It was also Angela’s second fight against the 34-year-old Japanese veteran after defeating the latter in 2016 to become the youngest MMA world champ.

You’re probably thinking “Why does an MMA world champ need a bodyguard?” You’re right. The “bodyguard” in question is Angela’s fiancé and fellow MMA fighter, Bruno Pucci. When he’s not sparring with her at Singapore’s Evolve MMA gym (or Hawaii’s United MMA & Fitness Center), he’s chaperoning the 21-year-old lass wherever she goes. So tight are the lovebirds that each time our topic flits to her 27-year-old Brazilian beau, she either breaks into a sundaesweet smile, girlish giggle, or both. You know, like any normal crazily-in-love girl. But Angela isn’t just any normal girl — we’re talking about a girl who would unflinchingly mean punch, low kick and choke hold her opponent inside the ring.