ONE Fight Night 14: All you need to know about the Xiong Jing Nan-'Wondergirl' special-rules striking match

‘The Panda’ Xiong Jing Nan has been waiting for a chance to return to the ONE Championship circle, and her wait will finally be over on Friday, September 29.

But instead of defending her ONE strawweight MMA world title, the Chinese superstar will step into a first-of-its-kind contest on the global stage alongside one of the most explosive strikers on the promotion’s roster, ‘Wondergirl’ Nat Jaroonsak.

Given their striking backgrounds, fans are in for a treat when their unique battle gets underway at ONE Fight Night 14 inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Both warriors head into this contest with a point to prove, which adds to the excitement.

Xiong wants to deliver a better performance after her last outing versus Angela Lee, a match she describes as her worst yet under the ONE banner.

On the opposite end, the 24-year-old Thai wants to bounce back from her defeat to Australia’s Lisa Kyriacou at ONE Friday Fights 26 this past July.

As the hotly anticipated draws near, here’s all you need to know about the striking battle that unfolds on the 14th installment of ONE’s Fight Night series.

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#3. The special rules

Similar to ONE’s non-title Muay Thai and kickboxing bouts, the pair’s striking showdown will consist of three 3-minute rounds.

The match will be fought at strawweight – Xiong and ‘Wondergirl’s' natural competing weight class. They will don the 4-ounce Muay Thai and MMA gloves for this firefight.

In terms of what they are allowed to trade, all punching techniques with closed fists will be allowed, including spinning or jumping variants. All strikes must land on the padded surface of the gloves and holding the head and punching will be perfectly legal.

However, all kicks, knees, and elbows are prohibited.

If Xiong and 'Wondergirl' fail to wrap up the scheduled nine-minute fight with a knockout or stoppage, a trio of judges at ringside will tally the contest based on the 10-point must system, with the winner of each round receiving 10 points.

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#2. How their striking matches up against one another

Xiong's boxing pedigree does not need much of an introduction. The strawweight MMA divisional queen, once part of the Chinese national boxing team, has educated hands and an equally good tank to go hard for the nine-minute duration.

The Evolve MMA superstar has used her bread and butter to steer her to a record-setting seven world title defenses on the global stage, and it'll be an all too familiar scenario for her when she returns despite a rule change.

On the other hand, 'Wondergirl' might need a bit of time limiting her usual striking capacity of Muay Thai, which consists of elbows and kicking.

Still, there shouldn't be any doubts about her ability to solely trade punches with Xiong. The Thai superstar is, after all, one of the best strikers in the world, and she'll prove it again on fight night.

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#1. Probably the first of many more to come

All eyes may be on the three world title fights on offer at ONE Fight Night 14, but this contest holds similar weight simply because of the stylistic clash and the unique ruleset.

‘Wondergirl’ and Xiong love throwing in the pocket, and they barely miss the mark when they’re within enemy territory. Besides, both superstars have trademark aggression, which guarantees fireworks.

And if the fight lives up to its hype, ONE wouldn’t waste time trying to follow up with an occasional special rules striking showdown, especially with its Qatar, Japan, and United States shows all set to go down within the next 12 months.

On top of that, the Singapore-based promotion has plenty of talent who would be down for a similar night out on the biggest stage of martial arts today.

Don't forget to tune in to ONE Fight Night 14 this Friday, September 29, which airs live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The entire card will be available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.