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“The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan labored her recreation plan to near-perfection and retained her ONE Girls’s Strawweight World Title as soon as once more at ONE: HEAVY HITTERS.
The longtime queen defeated #4-ranked Ayaka “Zombie” Miura by way of unanimous resolution on Friday, 14 January, primarily clearing out the division by holding victories excessive 4 contenders.
Within the course of, probably the most dominant girls’s World Champion in ONE historical past prolonged her personal file to 6 profitable World Title defenses.
Throughout 5 rounds of motion on the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Xiong defended each single takedown try from the Japanese judo black belt. That meant Miura was by no means able to make the most of in her trademark “Ayaka Lock” scarf-hold Americana submission.
When “Zombie” went for a single-leg, Xiong sprawled and unfold her toes vast aside so she couldn’t be taken down. And if Miura went for a double-leg, Xiong pried the Japanese athlete’s arms off her legs and widened her base.
When these makes an attempt didn’t work, the challenger went for physique lock takedowns, however these additionally proved to be fruitless as Xiong escaped, circled away, and created the area wanted to assault. Not even Miura’s hip throws might tilt the titleholder.
It was a masterful defensive technique put collectively by “The Panda” and her workforce at Evolve MMA. Nonetheless, her offense was simply nearly as good.
Together with stuffing each takedown try and creating area, Xiong pelted Miura with one-twos and low kicks for a lot of the 25 minutes. And every time she scrambled out of a takedown try and left Miura on her knees, the vaunted striker would launch a kick into her foe’s sternum.
In pre-fight interviews, the World Champion mentioned she wished to knock out Miura for calling her boring. However Miura not often engaged on the toes, leaving Xiong pissed off.
At one level within the fifth spherical, “The Panda” grew so impatient that she waved on the Japanese grappler to commerce palms. By that point, nonetheless, “The Panda” had already secured the victory – the judges’ resolution was a mere formality.
The win bumped Xiong’s file to 17-2, however it additionally prompted the only remaining Chinese language Combined Martial Arts World Champion to announce that she desires to make one other run on the ONE Girls’s Atomweight World Title at present held by previous foe “Unstoppable” Angela Lee.
Learn extra: ONE: HEAVY HITTERS – Full Outcomes For Each Combat
