World’s most promising young mixed martial artist Victoria Lee has died at the age of 18, her family has confirmed. “We miss her … [m]ore than anything in this world. Our family will never be the same. Life will never be the same. Victoria was the most beautiful soul who ever lived. She was the best little sister in the world.”
“She has gone too soon and our family has been completely devastated since then,” wrote her sister, Angela, in an Instagram post on Saturday. Victoria lee had been expected to join the league of her siblings as a world champion and was nicknamed “The Prodigy”. Lee was closely associated with her siblings’ careers and would often bake cakes for them after fight.
She also shared in December how inspiring her brother’s world title was for her. “I’m so proud of my big brother,” she said. “Just being able to be in the gym and watch him grind and push so hard in all of his training sessions, and watch the fight and see it play out so beautifully.” Victoria Lee was also a junior world champion in the modern variant of pankration, an ancient form of Greek wrestling.
Chatri Sityodtong, ONE’s chairman also paid tribute to Lee. “I first met Victoria when she was 11 years old,” He wrote in a Facebook post. “I watched her blossom over the years as a martial artist and a human being. I always remember thinking how wise, thoughtful, and selfless she was beyond her years. Of course, she was an extraordinary martial arts prodigy even back then, but I could see that she was so much more than that. Victoria had the purest heart of gold and a brilliant mind. She looked after others before herself. She wanted to use her life to help the world. I will always remember Victoria for the beautiful and precious soul that she was.”