“Everyone has their strengths” - Xiong Jing Nan says there is more to MMA than wins and losses

With her only career loss in ONE Championship coming against Angela Lee at ONE: Century Part 1 in 2019, ONE women’s strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan will walk into her U.S. primetime debut with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder.

Although ‘The Panda’ has a victory over Lee in a prior meeting, Xiong still has something to prove as she goes on to defend her world title against the fan-favorite submission specialist.

Days away from arguably the biggest fight of her mixed martial arts career, Xiong Jing Nan spoke with ONE Championship about her upcoming world title showdown and the concept of wins and losses as a way to determine who the best fighter is.

“I’ve never thought about who the strongest or weakest fighter is. Everyone has their strengths and in those areas, no one will be able to match that, so everyone is therefore the best. Every athlete is trying their best to learn and excel and do their best in every fight. I don’t think that we should use the notions of ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ to evaluate who the better fighter is.”

While one can certainly understand and respect Xiong’s thought process on the notion of winning and losing, there are valuable lessons in the concept, particularly in losing. Defeat can be used as a motivator, helping an individual realize that they lack skills in a specific area that they can then improve over time.

Winning can bring a similar result, with a victor motivated to continue their winning ways in an attempt to prove they are the best in a specific field.

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Xiong Jing Nan is ready for a return to atomweight

Xiong Jing Nan’s lone loss inside the circle came against Angela Lee when the two women met for the second time in 2019.

Since then, ‘The Panda’ has been looking to jump back into the atomweight division. A win over Lee at ONE on Prime Video 2 to retain her strawweight world title could present the perfect opportunity.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Xiong Jing Nan spoke about the potential of returning to the world of atomweights, saying:

"To me, in atomweight, I think every fighter has their own specialties and traits, so anyone would be an ideal opponent. I haven’t placed much thought into who my next opponent should be. I think I would be able to learn something from whoever my next opponent is."

If ‘The Panda’ emerges victorious on September 30, a fourth bout between the two women with Lee’s atomweight world title on the line could be on the cards.