The dying of 18-year-old rising MMA star Victoria “The Prodigy” Lee, introduced on the weekend, has prompted an outpouring of tributes from individuals related to the game. Asia-based ONE MMA Championship chief Chatri Sityodtong mentioned he was “heartbroken” by Lee’s passing and that he would bear in mind her “for the beautiful and precious soul that she was.” Lee got here from a household of champion MMA fighters — her older sister Angela is the ONE Championship atomweight world title holder whereas her brother Christian holds the ONE light-weight title.

“I first met Victoria when she was 11 years old. I watched her blossom over the years as a martial artist and a human being,” Sityodtong wrote on his Facebook web page on Sunday.

Indian-Canadian blended martial arts star Gurdarshan Mangat tweeted: “This one is tough. Her energy was felt whether you knew her or not.

“She was destined for greatness. I simply pray she knew that earlier than she left us. That she actually was a lightweight.”

Lee died on Boxing Day but was only announced late Saturday by her sister Angela on Instagram.

“We miss you a lot sis. More than you may ever realise,” Angela wrote.

“We’re all damaged. Because a chunk of you was in every of us and if you left, these items had been ripped out of us. We won’t ever be the identical.”

The cause of death was not revealed by her family.

Lee was born and raised in Hawaii to a Singaporean father and South Korean-Canadian mother and fought under the Singapore flag.

She had her first MMA fight at 16 and her last bout was in September 2021.

According to the ONE website, the young Lee had put competition on the back burner in 2022 to focus on graduating from high school, but she had planned to make a big return in 2023.

Lee had a close relationship with her siblings, baking treats after each of their victories.

“This time he requested a banana cake. So, as quickly as we completed watching the battle, I used to be within the kitchen baking for him,” she was quoted as saying within the ONE web site after her brother gained a title match not too long ago.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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