Teenage Phenom Victoria Lee Predicts ‘First-Round Finish’ Of Wang Luping
Victoria “The Prodigy” Lee had a debut to remember in ONE Championship, scoring a second-round rear-naked choke over Sunisa “Thunderstorm” Srisen at ONE: FIST OF FURY in February.
That win catapulted the 17-year-old to international recognition and showed that she could follow in the footsteps of her siblings – ONE Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee and ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee.
Lee will now look to strike again, this time against “Little Sprouts” Wang Luping at the closed-door ONE: BATTLEGROUND on Friday, 30 July.
“My next opponent is more experienced than Srisen. She is a well-rounded, power-based fighter, and our styles match up well. This is going to be a good fight for me,” Lee said.
“Her biggest strength is her striking. She seems like a power-based striker – throwing to knock you out. But I’ve also been improving my striking, my grappling, wrestling, the whole MMA game. And so the way that I mix it up in a fight, it’s going to neutralize her strengths.”
Despite having so many eyes on her return to the Circle, Lee is concentrating on the things she can control. That means thinking about training rather than anything Wang has stated in interviews.
“Every fighter has to have confidence in themselves in order to take a fight. And to me, it doesn’t really matter what my opponents say. It only matters what happens inside of the cage,” Lee said.
“So I’m just focusing on myself and not whatever is going on on the other side, and then we’ll just see what happens when we meet in the cage.”
As for her game plan, Lee believes height and reach will give her an edge, especially since she can control the range and mix up strikes and takedowns.
However, “The Prodigy” will still be wary of the Chinese athlete.
“I’m not discrediting her because footwork can make up for the range disadvantage. So I will be sharp, and I’m not going to underestimate her,” Lee said.
The teen star may not be underestimating Wang, but she’s not lacking in confidence, either.
“The way that we train here [at United MMA], the way that my dad trains us, is just to go for the finish wherever that may be because we’re in a fight. And so quickest kill is the way to go,” Lee said.
“This fight is going to end in a first-round finish.”
Catch all the action at ONE: BATTLEGROUND on Friday, 30 July, on meWATCH or the ONE Super App at 8:30 p.m. SGT.
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