ONE Championship atomweight titleholder Angela Lee has opened up on the passing of her sister Victoria, and her own battles with mental health.
‘Unstoppable’ has long been one of the faces of ONE Championship. In fact, Angela Lee’s entire family was dominating the company until last year. Brother Christian is currently the lightweight and welterweight champion, and sister Victoria previously made history as the youngest fighter in the promotion’s history. As a teenager, she secured several stoppage wins.
However, last December, the family’s lives were turned upside down. Tragically, Angela Lee announced the passing of Victoria at just 18 years old. At the time, there were very sparse details. Most of them came from Chatri Sityodtong, who admitted that he was unsure if any of the family members would return to MMA.
While that future is still to be determined, Angela Lee did speak in her first public interview in months to ESPN. In the interview, she confirmed many fears that her sister passed away from suicide. Furthermore, the atomweight champion revealed her own suicide attempt, a 2017 car crash that was previously unreported.
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“For me, I’m happy to share about Victoria,” Angela Lee stated to ESPN. “All that she was, just an incredible human being at 18 years old. I don’t even know where to start. Just a brilliant individual, so talented, from martial arts to cooking and painting and baking and playing instruments. She really could do it all, she was all self-taught. If she wanted to learn something, she had the discipline to go and figure it out on her own… She was part of our puzzle, which is our family, and there’s a piece missing. For that, it’s never going to be the same.”
Angela Lee reveals 2017 suicide attempt
“…In 2017, I had everything I wanted in life. I had my world championship title, defended it multiple times, met my husband and I was engaged. It was weird, and I try to look back and understand and break it down and try to see, everything that led up to that moment, and why. It’s just such a strange thing, everything was going good in my life on the outside. On the inside, I think just the pressure and the stress.”
Anglea Lee continued, “…It’s hard, in this sport in our profession, there’s no space to show these kind of emotions. We really have to put on this kind of mask, like we’re the strongest in the world… Your mind plays tricks on you, and tells you lies when you’re not healthy. In my head, I had all these thoughts, and that was my solution to it. I’m so glad that I’m here today.”
