Most pet owners know the immediate joys that come with sharing their lives with furry friends. Former ONE atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee is no different.
Per various studies, companion animals have been known to have the ability to ease loneliness and reduce depression, anxiety, and stress.
On top of that, a pet can add real joy and unconditional love – something the mum-champ discovered from the very first day she welcomed her late dog, Rocky, to her humble household.
During a long but enlightening chat on the Keep it Aloha Podcast, ‘Unstoppable’ spoke about the mental health benefits of owning a pet and how her late doggo indirectly contributed to her well-being throughout the good and bad days.
Angela Lee offered:
“I’ve been a huge dog lover all my life, and, actually, one of my dogs in particular, Rocky, an American Bulldog. He passed away not too long ago. But I got Rocky before my title fight.”
“I was going through a rough time actually preparing for that fight, and I came home to Hawaii. And my dad took me, and he’s like ‘Come for a drive we’re going to go somewhere.’ And we show up and, you know, I see these puppies, and I instantly was like gravitated to Rocky. They’re just always there for you and showing up with so much love.”
Watch the full interview here:
“They can pick up on these things” – Angela Lee says Rocky was always there during the bad days
Rocky’s presence in her life, just before she contested for the inaugural ONE atomweight MMA world title against Mei Yamaguchi, was one of the sweetest moments throughout an eventful career.
Not only did Angela Lee’s furry friend lift her spirits, but Rocky even kept her company when she swam, went for her walks around Hawaii, and prepared herself for multiple fights under the ONE banner.
Until today, her four-legged best friend lives vividly in Angela Lee’s memory, and she’ll continue remembering Rocky for all the times he helped her overcome a world of challenges inside and outside the ONE Championship Circle.
“He is so funny because his personality was that he was a very scared puppy. He always had these big eyes like that, and he grew up to be this monster-like, big macho dog. But still, he had that scared-like puppy personality. He’s gotten me through so many tough times,” Angela Lee shared in the same interview.“And, I really feel like sometimes when you’re going through just a hard time, and you can’t really verbally express that to someone, you can’t really talk about it, you know, they understand they can pick up on these things.”