“I’ll Keep This Belt for a Long Time”- After Successfully Defending Her Title for the Seventh Time, Xiong Jing Nan Warns the Division That She’s Here to Stay

Published 10/13/2022, 8:30 AM EDT

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With a jaw-dropping seventh ONE World Title defense in that bag, “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan doesn’t see any credible threat to her reign atop the promotion’s women’s strawweight division. 

China’s first-ever MMA World Champion has triumphed past all the top dogs in the weight class, and she is confident that she can continue to do the same for a long time to come. 

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Xiong Jing Nan is confident of a long reign at the top

“It might sound cocky, but I’ll keep this belt for a long time. Even though there may be dangerous fighters to sign with ONE, they are not even close to my level,” the Evolve MMA representative offered.

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Despite her self-assurance that she can take on any and all challengers to her throne, Xiong feels there is still room for improvement with her game.

The Panda” earned a second win over atomweight queen Angela Lee to retain her World Title at ONE on Prime Video 2 on Friday, September 30, but she ultimately wasn’t satisfied with how she scored the unanimous decision win over her ever-improving rival. 

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“I’m actually not pleased with my performance. I was looking for a KO, but I didn’t get it. I could have gotten a finish,” she said.

“But it’s great to fight this new version of Angela. It’s the best way to show that I’ve also reached a new level.”

What’s next for Xiong Jing Nan?

With the third chapter of their rivalry out of the way, Xiong is simply going to remain focused on improving her craft while ONE finds a suitable opponent for her next ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title defense. 

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The 34-year-old superstar refuses to think about who that might be just yet, but she hopes whoever crosses her path next will bring out the best in her in the same way Lee did last month.

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“I’m actually tired of answering who’s next for me. It’s these fighters’ jobs to earn the opportunity to fight me. That would be fair for me and all the girls on the roster,” Xiong said.

“Let the promotion decide who’s next. The only thing I care about is getting better, and facing tougher opponents in the future.”

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Written by:

Yeswanth Praveen

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Yeswanth Praveen is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His interests mainly lie in the realm of MMA, bodybuilding, and the fitness industry. He finished his Master's in English literature from EFLU, Hyderabad.
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Edited by:

Rohini Kottu