ONE Championship: Stamp Fairtex sends support to Victoria Lee’s family – ‘please be strong’
- ‘This trial that you have to pass is a difficult time, but come back stronger,’ Stamp tells Lee family after 18-year-old fighter’s tragic death
- The Thai battled Victoria’s older sister, Angela Lee, in the main event of the martial arts promotion’s 10th anniversary celebration last March
Stamp Fairtex has sent her support to Victoria Lee’s family after the rising ONE Championship star’s death at 18 years old.
The Thai battled Victoria’s older sister, Angela Lee, in the main event of the martial arts promotion’s 10th anniversary celebration, ONE X, last March.
Angela retained her atomweight MMA title in that clash with a second-round rear-naked choke, and the pair shared an emotional embrace in the cage.
Victoria, who went 3-0 in her brief career in ONE, was watching from the family’s home in Hawaii along with brother Christian Lee, a two-division MMA champ. But Stamp met Angela’s husband, parents and 1-year-old daughter backstage at Singapore Indoor Stadium after the fight in a showing of mutual respect that went viral.
“It was very shocking news for me and it was so sad, because both of Victoria’s siblings were paving the way for her and she was doing so great,” Stamp told the Post.
“I’m so sorry for the Lee family. Please be strong. This trial that you have to pass is a difficult time, but come back stronger.”
The 25-year-old Stamp (9-2), who is ranked No 1 in the atomweight division, returns to action in Bangkok on Saturday in a special mixed-rules fight against feared striking superstar Anissa Meksen. The four-round bout will alternate between MMA and Muay Thai rules, starting with the latter.
While the mood at Impact Arena will no doubt be sombre, with Victoria Lee having originally been set to compete on the same ONE Fight Night 6 card, it will still be a special morning for Stamp.
ONE: Aung La ‘heartbroken’ for Victoria Lee’s family after death at 18
She has not fought in her home country since relinquishing her atomweight Muay Thai title in a decision loss to Allycia Helen Rodrigues in August 2020 – though the arena was empty, as ONE made a first foray back into hosting events amid the pandemic.
“I am very excited because my parents can come here, and my friends from my gym and all the fans from Thailand can be here to support me,” Stamp said.
French-Algerian Meksen, who has cruised to three wins in ONE since debuting late in 2021, will provide a stern test on the feet in the opening round, and has warned Stamp that she will surprise her if things go to the ground in the second.
“I am not worried at all,” Stamp said. “I’ve been training MMA for six years. Of course, I will not lose to someone who has been training MMA just for a few months.
“I’m definitely not just a dancer. I have been training hard in Muay Thai and MMA. I’ll show her my MMA skills.
“I’ve never got a takedown before, so in this fight I will really try. And of course, you will see me dance.”
