Boxing coach Drian Francisco breaks down Xiong Jing Nan’s advantages over ‘Wondergirl’

Xiong Jing Nan’s boxing coach, Drian Francisco, believes his fighter will have a decided advantage with it comes to strength and pure power this Friday night when she steps inside the circle against Thai standout Nat ‘Wondergirl’ Jaroonsak.

Coming off a big win against atomweight MMA queen Angela Lee in her last outing, ONE women’s strawweight MMA world champion Xiong Jing Nan will put her skills to the test when she heads to Singapore Indoor Stadium for the first-ever special rules striking bout against ‘Wondergirl.’

Ahead of their highly anticipated showdown, Drian Francisco spoke on behalf of Xiong Jing Nan in a Sportskeeda MMA exclusive, detailing the advantages that ‘The Panda’ will carry into the unique matchup against Jaroonsak:

“In terms of sheer power and strength, I know Jing Nan is still stronger. Jing Nan still has an advantage when it comes to strength because boxing is her base. Muay Thai relies more on kicks, elbows, and knees. They don’t really focus much on punches,” Francisco said.

"But ‘Wondergirl does have an advantage in reach, so what we’ll do is we’ll try to cut the distance and get within range. When we get inside and ‘Wondergirl’ falls back, then we’ll get the advantage. But if she doesn’t back off, we’re ready to execute some in-and-out offense or get Jing Nan to sidestep and open up her offensive angles.”

Xiong Jing Nan steps into the bout with an impressive 18-2 record in her mixed martial arts career with nine of those victories coming under the ONE Championship banner. Perhaps even more impressive is that ‘The Panda’ has only faced defeat once inside the circle. That came against Angela Lee nearly four years ago.

Since then, Xiong has rattled off four straight wins against some of the most dangerous women in the sport. Will she add another big win to her resume this Friday night?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video live and for free in U.S. primetime on September 29.