Reigning ONE women’s strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan played the anti-hero in her main event showdown with ONE women’s atomweight world champion Angela Lee.
The two fierce fighters headlined ONE on Prime Video 2 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday night, September 30. After a close back-and-forth battle complete with explosive striking exchanges, elite-level grappling, and high drama, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Xiong, who took home a unanimous decision victory to retain the strawweight strap.
The fight started off with an intense pace, as both women met at the center of the circle. Surprisingly, Lee was more than willing to engage with Xiong Jing Nan early on, who entered the contest the consensus superior striker.
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Unfortunately, that strategy worked against Lee, who ate a plethora of thunderous boxing combinations. Xiong stunned ‘Unstoppable’ momentarily with a right hand, but Lee answered back with a Superman punch.
Midway through the first, ‘Panda’ dropped Lee with another beautifully timed overhand right. She then followed the Singaporean-American star to the mat to hit her with ground-and-pound.
Lee turned to her grappling in the second round and immediately found success as she modified her game plan. The 26-year-old mom champion caught Xiong in the signature Lee anaconda choke, and for a brief moment, it appeared she would be able to lock it in. However, Xiong showed great improvement with her grappling defense and was able to escape the hold.
In the third round, it was Xiong Jing Nan’s turn to make the right adjustment by digging to Lee’s body -- a well-known perceived weakness for the Mililani, Hawaii resident.
‘The Panda’ tagged Lee with a myriad of stinging jabs and straights to the midsection, but Lee was able to power herself through most of it. To her credit, Lee more than held her own in the exchanges and even found some good moments in the clinch.
The championship rounds were where this fight was decided though, and both women left it all in the circle when the smoke cleared.
The judges were in unison for this one, they awarded the points victory to Xiong Jing Nan, who appeared to have scored more in the damage category -- the highest scoring category in ONE Championship’s judging criteria.
Her work to the body, and hard shots to her opponent's head is what likely won her the fight, despite Lee looking pretty good herself in the standup.
Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan are a match made in MMA heaven
After three fights in the circle, one thing is clear. Xiong Jing Nan and Angela Lee are a match made in MMA heaven. Their trilogy has produced three epic world title bouts that fans will remember for all of time.
When the decision was read and ONE Championship’s hefty golden belt was back on Xiong’s shoulders. Interestingly, in her post-fight interview, the Chinese strawweight queen said she's always down to another fight with Angela Lee:
“Nobody knows what I went through the past couple of months. I don't really mind the audience here. You might have a different opinion but I want to dedicate this match, my performance, to the people who truly understand me. I really want to thank my team, my fans who stand behind me”
She added:
“Only my team and I know what I had to go through to prepare for this fight. Again, the audience here has a different opinion, but look, I’m always prepared. I’m ready for another fight with Angela Lee, whether it’s kickboxing, or it’s MMA. Let’s go. I want to also thank Angela Lee. Thank you for this spectacular match. I really enjoyed fighting this evolved, better version of you.”