Victoria Lee

Victoria Sun Hei Lee was an American mixed martial artist who competed professionally in the ONE Championship organization. Known as the youngest fighter ever signed by the promotion, she competed in the Atomweight division. During her combat sports career, she achieved success at both the amateur international level and in professional martial arts competitions before her passing in December 2022.

Lee was born on May 17, 2004, in Wahiawa, Hawaii. She was raised in a martial arts family by her mother, Jewelz Lee, who is of Korean and Canadian descent, and her father, Ken Lee, who is of Chinese and Singaporean heritage. She was the younger sibling of established mixed martial artists Angela Lee and Christian Lee, following her family into combat sports.

Before turning professional, Lee compiled a distinguished record in youth martial arts tournaments. Her early achievements included winning two Pankration Junior World Championships in Hawaii in the under-57 kilogram division in 2019 and 2020. Additionally, she captured an International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Junior World Championship in wrestling in 2019, as well as an IMMAF Junior State Championship in Hawaii in 2020. She honed her skills at the United MMA Gym located in Hawaii, where she was coached by her brother-in-law, Bruno Pucci, while also receiving organizational support from Evolve MMA.

Lee reached a major milestone in her martial arts career on September 30, 2020, when she officially signed with ONE Championship at sixteen years of age. This signing established her as the youngest athlete on the promotion's roster. She made her promotional debut in the Atomweight class on February 26, 2021, at ONE Championship 129: Fists Of Fury. In her inaugural match, she secured a victory over opponent Sunisa Srisan, earning a second-round submission via rear naked choke.

She continued her professional career on July 30, 2021, at ONE Championship 139: Battleground, where she faced Wang Luping. Lee achieved another early victory by forcing a submission with a triangle armbar in the first round. Later that year, on September 24, 2021, she competed against Victoria Souza at ONE Championship 143: Revolution, winning the contest in the second round by way of ground and pound.

In 2022, Lee temporarily stepped away from professional fighting to prioritize her high school graduation requirements. She was scheduled to return to competition in Bangkok on January 14, 2023, for a matchup against Zeba Bano at ONE Fight Night 6. However, Lee passed away in Hawaii on December 26, 2022, at eighteen years old. Her family kept the news private until her older sister, Angela, shared the announcement publicly through Instagram on January 7, 2023.

In September 2023, Angela Lee authored an essay titled "Resilient" for The Players' Tribune, confirming that Victoria had ended her own life. Following her death, the Lee family announced the permanent closure of their family-owned mixed martial arts training center located in Waipahu, Hawaii.