American-Singaporean Victoria Lee an atomweight athlete of ONE MMA has died suddenly at the age of 18.
Victoria Lee, 18, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, ONE women’s atomweight MMA athlete, died a day after Christmas (December 26) as revealed by her sister Angela Lee on January 8.
"On December 26, 2022 our family experienced something no family should ever have to go through," said Angela in a post on Instagram, reported Channel News Asia.
"It is incredibly difficult to say this ... Our Victoria passed away.
"She has gone too soon and our family has been completely devastated since then. We miss her. More than anything in this world. Our family will never be the same. Life will never be the same."
ONE chief executive officer Chatri Sityodtong also paid tribute to their fallen athlete on Sunday, calling her a “beautiful and precious soul” with the “purest heart of gold and a brilliant mind.”
With the moniker “The Prodigy” in her early career, Victoria has already achieved much and is still exceeding expectations by winning her first two ONE matches by submission and the third by TKO, all in 2021.
She was supposed to return to the fighting ring after taking a break for the whole of 2022 on January 14 with an atomweight bout against India’s Zena Bano at ONE Fight Night 6: Superbon vs Allazov in Thailand according to Rappler.
Lee’s death was publicly announced by the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in Kaneohe, Hawaii on Friday and a celebration of her life has been scheduled for Jan 22 before her burial.
Victoria, born in Waipahu, Hawaii, to Singaporean father Ken Lee and South Korean-Canadian mother Jewelz Lee, has represented both the United States and Singapore as a member of the United MMA and Evolve MMA teams.
The young fighter also worked for ONE as she was also listed as an assistant instructor at Evolve MMA, a chain of martial arts gyms in Singapore.
“Keep checking on them. Give them hugs and tell them how much they mean to you. You just never know,” said Angela in conclusion and as a reminder for everyone to stay accountable.
Tags: #MMA, #death, #tragic