ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Champion Xiong Jing Nan always dreamed of becoming a professional athlete, but she originally had her sights set on a weightlifting career.
However, she soon discovered boxing and fell in love with the striking art.
Xiong’s journey through “the sweet science” began at the age of 18, as she became a member of the Shandong women’s boxing team and later represented China internationally. After adding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to her arsenal, she proved to be talented in all areas of combat sports. Xiong even won a China Open BJJ Championship.
Encouraged by her father to continue focusing on martial arts, she then set her sights on competing in MMA and threw herself into it completely, training four times a day until late at night.
Aside from standing up for the weak and bullied whenever she could, Xiong made many sacrifices to be the best in her field. She even moved away from home and passed on many of the typical teenage activities to focus on training for competition.
After a stellar run competing in her native China, she made a successful ONE Championship debut with an impressive knockout of April Osenio in December 2017.
That led to a shot at the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Title, which she seized with yet another knockout to make history as China’s first-ever MMA World Champion.
That led her to a shot at the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Championship, which she seized with yet another knockout to make history as China’s first-ever Mixed Martial Arts World Champion.
“The Panda” has since defended the belt several times in definitive fashion, and she is determined to continue inspiring the world whenever possible.
Next, she faces Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak in an innovative special rules striking contest at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video this September 29.
