ONE Championship: Victoria Lee’s death ‘very sad’ for final opponent Souza – ‘I could hardly believe it’
- Souza fought Lee in September 2021, and suffered a second-round TKO loss to the highly regarded MMA prospect
- Lee, the 18-year-old younger sister of two ONE champions, died in December, having not fought since she beat Souza
Victoria Souza felt the same way everyone did when she learned that rising 18-year-old ONE Championship star Victoria Lee had died.
“I could hardly believe it,” the 25-year-old Brazilian, who will meet Linda Darrow at Saturday’s ONE Fight Night 7 event in Bangkok, Thailand, told the Post this week.
“It made me very, very sad.”
Lee died on December 26 of last year, though news of her death did not get confirmed until early January. Her cause of death has not been made public.
Souza, as the many stories covering the American’s death noted, was her final opponent.
The pair met in September 2021. It was the sixth fight of Souza’s career, and the third of Lee’s. Lee won the fight by second-round TKO, reaffirming herself as one of the brightest young prospects in the sport.
“She was a very good MMA fighter,” Souza said. “It was very sad.”