You can only wonder what was going through Victoria Lee's head as she stood alone in the middle of a mixed martial arts (MMA) cage last night under the bright lights of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The 16-year-old had just won on her professional MMA debut, submitting Thai opponent Sunisa Srisen, 20, in the second round with a rear naked choke at One Championship's Fists of Fury event.
When commentator Mitch Chilson later asked her to talk through the moment she locked in the submission, Victoria, adrenaline still coursing, could only muster: "Uhhh, sorry. I forgot the question."
There was something endearing about the teen spacing out moments after delivering on the hype that had surrounded her for weeks leading up to the fight, and judging by the reaction of the spectators in attendance, all was forgiven.
The younger sister of One Championship world champions Christian (men's lightweight) and Angela (women's atomweight) was eager to prove her own mettle.
And she did it against Sunisa who had won four of her five pro MMA fights before last night.
The first round started with a flurry of punches from both young fighters, and ended with Victoria on Sunisa's back, trying unsuccessfully to lock in the rear naked choke. Seconds into the second round, however, she succeeded with the same move, forcing submission.
When asked if the fight went to plan, Victoria said: "No… I tried to finish her in the first. But I went back to the corner, and my dad (and coach Ken) said to hit the reset button and do what I was supposed to in the first round, in the second."
She later gathered her thoughts after viewing the replay of her submission. "Once I got her to the ground, I was just focusing on my base, got my hook in, saw her head pop up so I went for the neck and just squeezed it," she said.
The US-based Lee trio fight under the Singapore flag. They are coached by their parents - father Ken was born in Singapore, while mum Jewelz is a Korean-Canadian.
In the main event, flyweight kickboxing world champion Ilyas Ennahachi of Morocco retained his title by beating Thailand's Superlek Kiatmuu9 via unanimous decision.
-
3rd Victoria is the third member of the Lee family to win a One Championship fight.
Elsewhere on the card, Giorgio Petrosyan of Italy beat Georgia's Davit Kiria via unanimous decision while Thailand's Rodtang Jitmuangnon edged Tagir Khalilov of Russia via split decision in respective kickboxing bouts.
