“Not even close to my level” - Xiong Jing Nan believes it’ll be tough to find anyone who can match up to her

Xiong Jing Nan is running out of suitable challengers for her ONE women’s strawweight world title.

After turning back Angela Lee’s attempt to usurp her from the throne at ONE on Prime Video 2 this past weekend, ‘The Panda’ has now successfully defended the women’s 125-pound gold strap an astonishing seven times.

The Singaporean-American, of course, was widely considered the biggest threat to her divisional reign. Now that Xiong has bested her twice, the Chinese superstar is confident that she’ll stay on top for the considerable future.

Shortly after her unanimous decision victory over Lee, the 34-year-old Sanda specialist issued a warning to those who wish to steal the belt from her firm grasp. Xiong said in her post-fight interview:

“It might sound cocky, but I’ll keep this belt for a long time. Even though there may be dangerous fighters to sign with ONE, they are not even close to my level.”

Xiong Jing Nan, who improved her record to 18-2, has every right to be confident following another monumental win against her heated rival, no less. The Xiong-Lee saga has certainly become one of the most enthralling storylines, not just in ONE, but in all of women’s mixed martial arts.

The Evolve MMA star drew first blood when she handed Lee the first loss of her career in their initial encounter. The women’s atomweight queen, however, bounced back in the do-over and evened up the score.

That loss forced Xiong Jing Nan back to the drawing board, where she fine-tuned some of the holes in her game. She hasn’t tasted defeat since. Xiong racked up three straight title defenses, outlasting Tiffany Teo, Michelle Nicolini, and Ayaka Miura.

Her victory over Lee in the trilogy should have settled the score between the two, but it only opened up more questions than answers given the close nature of the bout.

Regardless of Lee’s doubts about her win, the Xiong dynasty lives on and she has no plans of relinquishing the throne anytime soon.

---

Xiong Jing Nan is ready to take on all challengers

‘The Panda’ made it clear that she’s willing to continue her two-division rivalry with Lee. However, she also feels that the strawweight division needs to move on and make room for other worthy challengers.

Xiong Jing Nan said in the same post-fight interview:

“I’m actually tired of answering who’s next for me. It’s these fighters’ jobs to earn the opportunity to fight me. That would be fair for me and all the girls on the roster. Let the promotion decide who’s next. The only thing I care about is getting better and facing tougher opponents in the future.”

ONE’s matchmakers, meanwhile, will have a tough time deciding who’s next in line considering that Xiong has pretty much cleared the entire weight class. With that said, it only seems fair that she gets another crack at two-division supremacy.