Photo via ONE Championship PR
Xiong Jing Nan on history-making title defense at ONE: Empower
Xiong Jing Nan defeated Michelle Nicolini in the main event of ONE: Empower. This ONE Strawweight World Championship affair went down at Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3rd.
The history-making Chinese Champion continues to make history on this all-women combat sports extravaganza. Jing Nan secured the fifth successful defense of her ONE Strawweight crown and defeated the number two contender Nicolini to do so.
Jing Nan was able to rock the decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with strikes throughout and kept up a sustained approach that went the full championship rounds.
There was no doubt as to who won the main event fight and what the judge’s scorecards would reveal but the question remains: what is next for Xiong Jing Nan?
I spoke with the history-making Chinese champion after her fifth successful title defense.
"The Panda" puts Michelle Nicolini DOWN in Round 1! 🐼 #ONEEmpower #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/c2YyVgRC4c
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 3, 2021
Xiong Jing Nan
Dropping Michelle Nicolini in the first round and if she was ever surprised at the level of toughness and adaptability of Nicolini
“It was not a surprise at all. In fact, I believe it was due to my soft-heartedness that I let her off easy. Many people feel that this character of mine is annoying.”
Beating the top three ranked contenders at Strawweight and eyeballing an Atomweight return
“It is a very cruel game. After all, it is martial arts. If they are in my division, I will definitely need to defeat every single one of them. But of course, I might also drop down a weight class. Because like I’ve mentioned before, fighting different people gives you an opportunity to train yourself and grow as a fighter. It’s through experience that one grows.”
“Because I want to grow as a fighter. Just because I am a champion, doesn’t mean I stop there. No. You need to continuously move forward and be better. ”
