So far, so good for young Victoria Lee. The 17-year-old needed less than four minutes to submit China’s Wang Luping at ONE: ‘Battleground’ last night.
It was the second fight for ‘The Prodigy’ and a second win. She has now posted back-to-back submission victories having made a successful debut at ONE: ‘Fists of Fury’ in February.
The teenage starlet executed her game plan with ruthless efficiency and forced her opponent to tap out from an armbar in the first round.
Addressing the media after the fight, she said,
“I’m feeling great. I feel so many mixed emotions but I’m really happy right now.”
Hard work
The teenager needed a little longer to finish Sunisa Srisen on her pro debut and says it was a ‘relief’ when she realized the fight was over,
“As soon as the match was over it was a huge wave of relief and just a feeling of all my hard work literally just paying off and it was an amazing feeling, it was indescribable really.”
The younger sister of champions Angela Lee and Christian Lee was delighted with her performance and was left in tears after sealing the win.
“It’s not until you’ve literally put in the hours on the mat, training and seeing it all just come together and having your hard work pay off it’s a huge wave that hits you – you don’t see it coming,” said Lee.
Huge talent
Lee is clearly a huge talent, and with this being her second appearance in the ONE circle, The Hawaii native was able to draw on her debut experience to put on a more mature display this time around.
“I think I performed well this match because I was able to stick the game plan,” she said.
“Going into this second match, I feel a lot more familiar with the process of going into the fight and I was able to stay a lot more calm leading up to the fight. And I think being able to stay calm and keep my composure really helped me to focus and remember what I’m supposed to do once the bell rings and the match starts,” she continued.
Experienced advice
With Christian and Angela making their pro debuts at 17 and 19, respectively, before going on to win world titles, young Lee has the perfect mentors to help prepare her for each fight. In this instance, both siblings were on the phone from Hawaii in the lead-up to the bout,
“I was able to speak to my brother and sister on facetime before my match. They were just giving me words of advice that they’ve told me before but just reminders to stay calm, stay focused and stick to the gameplan and those valuable words really helped me,” said Lee.
Atomweight is arguably the most intriguing division in ONE Championship right now. With Victoria’s sister holding the belt, the top contenders will face off in a Grand Prix for the right to face her. As much as the media might try to coax a name out of her, Lee refused to name her next opponent, and is focused more on improving her game and staying active.
“I just want to stay active and compete as often as I can against whoever. I’m not calling out any names,” said Lee.
“My goal is definitely to be a world champion one day but I’m early in my career, I’m just starting. Getting as much experience as possible, taking as many fights as I can and not looking to rush the process,” she added.
