3 reasons to get excited for the Angela Lee vs. Xiong Jing Nan trilogy

Trilogies often lead to the end of a rivalry, but for Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan, it could also be history-making.

ONE Championship’s queens of MMA are set to collide at ONE on Prime Video 2 on September 30 inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Angela Lee is looking to become the promotion’s first female two-division world champion as she fights for the ONE women’s strawweight world title, held by Xiong Jing Nan.

The first two bouts between the two fighters were as good as advertised, if not better. They have both proven to be in a class of their own in their respective divisions, and will now compete in a deciding match to prove just who the best female MMA fighter is between them.

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about this intense matchup, and we have listed at least three of them. Read on to find out what they are:

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#3. There will be a finish

Every fight fan enjoys a good finish, and both Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan have shown their ability to end fights throughout their careers. In ONE Championship, Xiong has four wins that ended in a TKO, while Lee ended eight of her 11 wins via submission.

There’s no doubt that Xiong is the superior striker. After representing China internationally in boxing, she carried over her success in the local MMA scene. Using her incredible power to overwhelm her opponents, Xiong collected multiple knockouts in her 12 wins prior to her arrival in ONE Championship in December 2017.

The same knockout power helped her secure the inaugural ONE women’s strawweight world title a little over a month later. She’s looking to prove that she still has the killer instinct that made her one of the most dangerous female fighters alive today.

Meanwhile, Angela Lee is a nightmare on the ground. A daughter of highly decorated martial artists, ‘Unstoppable’ was introduced to various disciplines and excelled in BJJ and wrestling.

She pulled off four straight submissions to start her ONE Championship career and has collected more through her reign as the division’s queen. She spent much of the past two years welcoming her baby daughter to the world, with many questioning if she would remain as dominant as she was before becoming a mother. At ONE X earlier this year, she proved to be tougher than ever, bucking an early scare from Thai superstar Stamp Fairtex and forcing her to tap in the second round.

With both motivated to prove something to the world, this match is almost guaranteed an exciting finish.

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#2. Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan will break their tie

It’s insane to think about how evenly matched up these two women are. Their first two meetings both ended in finishes, but they needed all five rounds to set it up.

In their first matchup, Angela Lee did not shy away from the standup against Xiong Jing Nan, spending much of the match on their feet. While Lee had her moments, she wasn’t always looking to just neutralize ‘The Panda’ by taking the match to the ground.

It was a decision that would cost her in the fifth round, as Xiong hit her with a liver shot that visibly slowed down Lee. She then rained down a barrage of strikes that finally put a stop to the ‘Unstoppable’.

After finding success against the seemingly invincible Angela Lee, it was Xiong’s turn to go after her world title. The move to atomweight produced another intense matchup, this time with a more methodical Lee.

While she still went toe-to-toe with the ONE women’s strawweight world champion in the striking department, she had more submission attempts in their rematch. In the fifth and final round, the Singaporean-American found a way to take Xiong’s back and hunted for the finish. She couldn’t lock in a proper rear-naked choke, but she found a way to crank Xiong’s neck, leading to the tap-out with just 12 seconds remaining in the match.

It’s impossible to predict how their trilogy will end, but if there’s one thing that we’ll know by the end of the night it's that there will be one winner in this intense rivalry.

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#1. The best female MMA fighter in ONE will be crowned

Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan are the only female MMA world champions in the history of ONE Championship.

Lee claimed the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight world title when she was just 19 years old back in May 2016. She remains undefeated in the women’s atomweight division, defeating all challengers to her throne.

Meanwhile, Xiong has had a similarly dominating run one weight class higher. Unbeaten in eight strawweight contests, ‘The Panda’ is heading to her seventh world title defense when she meets Lee.

After absorbing her first promotional loss against Lee in 2019, Xiong has since racked off three straight wins back in the women’s strawweight division. As such, she has a strong case to be challenging for Lee’s crown instead of defending her own.

Regardless of the circumstances, this fight will certainly prove who the best female MMA fighter in the promotion is. Angela Lee will be fighting to make history by becoming the first two-division female world champion, while Xiong Jing Nan will look to prove that she is untouchable in her division.