Victoria Lee Eyes First Round Finish In ONE Championship Debut
At just 16 years old, Victoria Lee is set to make her professional MMA debut at ONE: Fists Of Fury at the Singapore Indoor Stadium this Friday night. Her atomweight clash against Thailand’s Sunisa Srisen comes five months after signing with the promotion.
Excited For Debut
Speaking exclusively to Asian Persuasion MMA, Lee said that she has always dreamed of fighting in ONE Championship, and she is excited to finally make her debut.
“I’m doing great. I feel so excited and so ready to make my debut,” Lee said. “I can’t wait. Making my ONE Championship debut has been a dream of mine and it’s finally happening and I just can’t wait.”
Lee would have been happy to showcase her talents in a packed arena but due to COVID, only a few hundred lucky fans will have the chance to watch her compete in the ONE Circle for the very first time. The United MMA representative, however, isn’t thinking too much about it and is focused on the task in hand.
“I would love to compete in a packed stadium one day but competing in front of 250 fans or a completely full audience doesn’t matter,” Lee said. “I’m just excited and I feel lucky that I’m able to be competing at this time.”
Ideally, Lee would have also preferred to have her entire family with her on her big day, but due to the pandemic, she has had to make the trip from Hawaii to Singapore with only her parents.
“I wish that my entire family could come with me,” Lee regretted. “But because of the COVID circumstances, only my mum and dad will be coming with me, and my dad will be cornering me.”
Sunisa Srisen
Srisen made her ONE debut last year against Stamp Fairtex at ONE: No Surrender, but was finished in the first round. She bounced back however, in her second fight in the promotion against Rika Ishige at ONE: A New Breed 3, winning via unanimous decision. Heaping praise on her opponent, Lee recognises that ‘Thunderstorm’ will be a tough competitor for her debut.
“I think that she’s a tough opponent and she’s a very aggressive striker. She is going to be a good matchup,” Lee stated. “I think her first fight against Stamp Fairtex, she proved that she was a tough opponent, but Stamp was just the better fighter, she came out with the win and her second fight against Rika, I think she really went back in the gym to work on her skills and she showcased it.”
To prepare for Victoria, Srisen has been studying Angela since there’s very little footage of her opponent competing online, and she expects that the younger sibling will have a similar fighting style as the atomweight queen.
Although Lee acknowledges that Srisen will be a tough test for her, she is confident in her skills and expects to get the finish in the first round.
“I think since we’re both aggressive fighters,” said Lee. “It’s going to be a fast-paced match and I see a first-round finish.”
Training With Angela And Christian
When Victoria steps into the ONE Circle for the first time, she will follow in the footsteps of her big sister Angela Lee, who holds the ONE atomweight title, and big brother Christian Lee, the promotion’s lightweight champion. While the debutant has a standard of excellence to live up to, she feels lucky to train with her world champion siblings on a daily basis.
“It’s definitely all positive,” Lee said. “I’m so lucky that I’m able to train with them and just watch the hard work it takes to become a world champion on a daily basis.”
Lee plans on staying active and racking up a few wins in 2021 but for now, she’s fully focused on her debut.
“I would love to stay active and compete as much as I can,” Lee said. “But right now I’m only focused on making my debut. That’s all I’m focused on right now.”
Do you think Victoria Lee will have her hand raised in her highly anticipated debut against Sunisa Srisen at ONE: Fists Of Fury?
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