SINGAPORE: Mixed martial arts (MMA) champion Angela Lee was involved in a car accident on Tuesday (Nov 7) in Hawaii, said founder and chairman of ONE Championship Chatri Sityodtong.  

"ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee got into a terrible car accident yesterday with her car flipping over 5-6x according to the police," Sityodtong  said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

He added that Lee was driving to the gym for her morning training session when she fell asleep at the wheel.

"Miraculously, she survived with only a concussion, some minor burns, and a banged up body," he said. "If she was not wearing a seatbelt, it would have most certainly been a different story."

Sityodtong added he saw photos of the damaged car and called it a "complete wreck". According to him, police said that her car had flipped five or six times. 

Her father and trainer Ken Lee told Hawaiian media khon2.com that the accident happened on Oahu island when her car hit a guardrail on the highway. 

"The axle snapped and the car flipped 5-6 times over 100 yards and landed on the opposite side of the highway, according to the police," he was quoted as saying. 

He added that it was truly a miracle that she survived and that she was now at home recovering and "will be okay".  

Sityodtong also confirmed that Lee has been ruled out of ONE Championship's Immortal Pursuit event, scheduled for Nov 24 in Singapore. She was slated to defend her atomweight title in a headline fight against Japan's Mei Yamaguchi. 

The clash was billed by ONE as an encore of their "Bout of the Year 2016" performance when Lee beat Yamaguchi in May last year to be crowned the youngest ever MMA champion. 

Lee got engaged to fellow ONE Championship fighter Bruno Pucci last month, and the pair are based in Hawaii.