PhotoCred: ONE Championship
Meng Bo humbled and ready to show ‘a whole new Meng Bo’ in return to 125-pounds
The ONE Championship atomweight Grand Prix did not go according to plan for surging Chinese powerhouse Meng Bo.
Fully confident that she’d dominate her way through the opposition ultimately earning a title opportunity against Angela Lee, the 25-year old striker instead was one and done after colliding with India’s Ritu Phogat. Three short months later and Meng is pulling out all the stops in preparation to rebound off of her first loss in ONE – physically and perhaps most importantly, mentally.
“It’s very intense right now [in camp] and my [team] is kind of nervous because last time I lost to Ritu Phogat so my team wants me to do much better this time,” Meng told My MMA News. “They give me a lot of pressure and I give myself lots of pressure, too. I want to do better this time and right now we are focused on the game plan for Tiffany Teo [on Jan. 14]. I think I will have a very good game plan to target her and take her down.
“After finishing that fight where I lost to Ritu, I just went straight back to my hotel, I rejected all interviews. After I arrived at my hotel, I shaved all my hair off – literally bald. A lot of fans, a lot of media, they were so surprised that I did that to my hair. But for me, shaving off all my hair, every time I look into the mirror, I remember that this is my determination to tell myself; ‘Don’t do the stupid stuff twice and keep training harder, and much harder than before.'”
Reinventions aren’t a new concept for combat sports athletes. Especially in cases like Meng’s where her lengthy winning streak of seven in a row was snapped.
Meng (17-5) hadn’t tasted defeat since September 2017 and the loss to Phogat – a fight she almost scored a knockout and submission in early on – has forced her to make several adaptations leading to “Meng Bo 2.0.”
“I’m still a little bit sad though my hair has grown back,” Meng said. “If I am the one to review the whole fight, I would say that the first round was in my advantage because I’m a very good stand-up fighter. Everyone can see that. In the first round, I damaged her so badly I almost finished her. But I don’t know why Ritu got the power to get back on her feet. She entered the second round and third round, and man, she’s so tough. I don’t know how she could do it – pulling me to the ground and punching me. I just lost my power and honestly, kind of lost my confidence, too.
“This whole process, especially the second and third round, I learned a lot. I learned my lesson. I know I have to improve my ground fight game. I’m very confident in myself, but maybe last time I was overconfident. So now I have to be more humble and be 100 percent prepared. Both me and my team.”
Even though it was far from the desired result, hindsight has provided Meng with the loss being a good thing. If she hadn’t been exposed as much as she feels she was on the ground, her overall development may have progressed slower.
At ONE: Heavy Hitters on Jan. 14, Meng will depart from ONE’s 115-pound atomweight division. Returning to the division she’s primarily fought at throughout her career, the Xian native will face former two-time title challenger Tiffany Teo at 125-pounds.
“This is a whole new Meng Bo, a whole new strawweight Meng Bo,” she said. “I hope this fight will impress everyone but, to be honest, I’m a little bit worried I’ll disappoint my fans because this is my first try at strawweight [in ONE].
“I’m so happy right now because at strawweight I have like five kilograms of weight so it’s an easy weight cut. Atomweight is so hard during the weight cut but right now I can have some hot pot, my soul food. So I think it’s good for my mental health and for my training as well so I’m happy.”
Meng at 115-pounds proved herself as one of the hardest-hitting female fighters on the planet. With a return to her original weight class, she expects to show off even more power than most fans have been accustomed to seeing.
However, with her recent setback opening her eyes to what needs to be worked on, Meng believes she can exploit Teo’s weaknesses which she feels are similar to her own.
“I have to say, ‘Hey, all strawweight girls, look out. My powerful punch is coming to strawweight!'” Meng said. “I don’t have to do a big weight cut unlike at atomweight. Not only did it cut my weight, but I think it also cut my muscle. After you cut muscle, you don’t have as much of a powerful punch. But now, I think I can keep my muscle at the same time. I believe that my punch will be much more powerful than ever.
“I have been reviewing all of Tiffany Teo’s fights during this period. I watch every detail of her fights and I know that her strong part is that she’s a very strong stand-up fighter, too. She is taller than me, she has longer legs and [arms]. This is very good when you do stand-up fighting but after I reviewed all her videos, I can see that she has no takedown ability. Every time that her opponents take her down, she cannot take the opponent down well. I know maybe she’s not as good at the ground game as me. But right now I believe she has been improving her ground game too because after I lost to Ritu everyone now knows I’m really bad at ground fighting. For this time, I will be very careful that any takedown will be defended from Tiffany Teo. But she’ll have to be ready for my improved ground game, too.”
Meng Bo still has a dream in mixed martial arts and that’s to one day become a world champion. Acting as a stark reminder, she even got it tattooed down her neck and should along a lineup reading “Parent – Dream – Power – Meng Bo – 329.”
At 125-pounds, the dream can potentially come to reality in a much more impactful fashion than it would have at 115.
The only titleholder ONE Championship has ever had in their strawweight division is China’s first world champion, Xiong JingNan. ONE: Heavy Hitters will also see the seven-time champion back in action when she looks to add a seventh title defense in the main event.
Meng standing across from Xiong would in her mind be a huge step up for Chinese MMA as a whole. Equating it to when Zhang Weili won the UFC title, all of MMA in China leveled up from that point onward. Having two Chinese competitors square off for a world title for the first time would certainly be historic.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself too much because I’m focused on this fight with Tiffany Teo,” Meng explained. “But if I have the chance to get back my winning streak and ultimately to have the title shot with Xiong JingNan, oh man. I think that will be a very great fight. Before that, no Chinese female athletes have fought against each other on the global stage. So if that day comes, Meng Bo vs. Xiong JingNan, it’ll be a very great show. I believe fans and media will create a lot of buzz because it will be a huge show. I’m so excited to see that day come as soon as possible.”
First things first for Meng Bo and that’s defeating Tiffany Teo and compiling another strong winning streak. That’s the goal inside the cage as 2022 approaches, anyway. Outside of it, more quality time with her family is something Meng always goes out of her way for. Unfortunately, for the second straight year, the pandemic will leave her in quarantine during Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year, when she returns home after her time in Singapore.
That’s just the price fighters have to pay in the current day and age. For the reinvented Meng Bo, she’ll do whatever it takes to get back on track.
