ONE Championship rising star Victoria Lee dead at 18

On Saturday, ONE Championship atomweight champion Angela Lee revealed the passing of her younger sister, ONE strawweight veteran Victoria Lee.

Following an Instagram post made on Saturday by her older sister, Angela Lee, Lee passed away on December 26. The nature of the death has not been disclosed, but a ONE Championship PR representative indicated the organization was preparing a release.

In the history of ONE, the last name "Lee" has significant significance. As two of the top superstars in the promotion, Angela and her brother Christian Lee have captured titles. Victoria was predicted to take in their siblings' footsteps subsequently.

Victoria Lee, a promising prospect in the MMA world, wrestled in their native Hawaii and participated in pankration before following her older sister into the professional realm of MMA. In the second round of her ONE debut in February 2021, she defeated Sunisa Srisan. She defeated every rival she faced while competing under the ONE brand, compiling a 3-0 record. She last competed in September 2021, defeating Victoria Souza via TKO. Victoria was slated to take part in her fourth MMA bout on January 14th, 2023, at ONE on Prime Video 6.

All three of the siblings in the ONE Championship are managed by their father Ken Lee. He was approached immediately after the news broke out, but he was not available for a short brief. Angela Lee told Brendan Schaub that gold was already in her sister's destiny, predicting that her younger sister will outperform her achievements in the cage.

Victoria Lee stated that her sister and brother were her major inspirations. Christian Lee just brought another gold to the family by winning the welterweight title in November, making him a two-division champion after also winning the lightweight title.

This is pure testimony of how much Victoria’s siblings are committed to the sport and became a perfect role models for their younger sister. But unfortunately, Victoria couldn’t continue the legacy.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Lee family at this difficult time.