Drian Francisco readying Xiong Jing Nan for special performance: “We're preparing to dominate”

Boxing coach Drian Francisco said they are progressing well in preparing ONE women’s strawweight MMA world champion Xiong Jing Nan of China for her special rules striking match later this month.

‘The Panda’ is set to go up against Thai Nat ‘Wondergirl’ Jaroonsak in a special rules showdown at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video on September 29 in Singapore.

Speaking to MixedMartialsArts.com, Francisco, who is a former WBA world champion and now coaches at Evolve MMA, said they are exhausting every aspect in training to make sure that Xiong Jing Nan comes up with a winning performance come fight night.

He said:

“We're taking no shortcuts for her training. She's got a special rules bout coming up with four-ounce gloves, but we're over here training with 12-ounce [gloves]. I'm constantly on her to unleash these short, quick bursts of power that will leave her opponent stunned. We're not just preparing to compete; we're preparing to dominate.”

As per published reports, the scheduled strawweight special rules striking match will have the protagonists only allowed to use punches while sporting four-ounce gloves.

Kicks, knees and elbows are prohibited, with the match scored under ONE Championship’s kickboxing and Muay Thai rules with a 10-point must system.

Xiong Jing Nan will be making her first fighting appearance at ONE Fight Night 14 since successfully defending her ONE strawweight world title in September 2022 against atomweight queen Angela Lee.

‘Wondergirl,’ a two-time Thailand Muay Thai champion, for her part, is seeking to rebound after losing to Australian Lisa Kyriacou in an MMA match in July.

ONE Fight Night 14 is available live and for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.