There are five other ranked fighters in ONE Championship’s strawweight division and Xiong Jing Nan has now beaten four of the. After her latest win the champion called for a second atomweight title shot and it is a request that will surely be granted.
Xiong easily dismissed the challenge of Ayaka Miura at ONE: ‘Heavy Hitters’ tonight. The Japanese fighter set out her stall to take the champion down but was totally unable to do it.
It didn’t make for the most entertaining spectacle at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. But there was no question who had won after Xiong spent 25 minutes defending takedowns while scoring with knees, kicks and punches.
Cage grab
The closest Miura came to taking the fight down was in the second round when a cage grab from Xiong seemed to save her. She got a warning from the referee and never looked like being put on her back again.
Xiong was spending a lot of time with her back pressed against the cage. But Miura’s attempts to take her down were consistently frustrated and the champion landed some sharp kicks and punches on the break.
After the win she asked for an atomweight title shot. Xiong wants to face the winner of the upcoming fight between Angela Lee and Stamp Fairtex and, with no other obvious matchups for her, that could be next for the Chinese star.
Best of the rest
Earlier in the night Saygid Izagakhmaev (20-2) got his ONE Championship career off to the best possible start. He finished James Nakashima (12-3) with a second round D’Arce choke.
Meanwhile Tiffany Teo (10-2) cemented her status as the #1 contender in the strawweight division. The Singaporean has a 100% winning record in non title fights which she maintained by submitting Meng Bo (18-6) with a second round rear naked choke.
Shuya Kamikubo (12-1-1) maintained his 100% winning record in the ONE Championship cage. He put himself in pole position for the next shot at the bantamweight belt by submitting Troy Worthen (7-3) late in the final round.
ONE: ‘Heavy Hitters’, Singapore, January 14th
Xiong Jing Nan def. Ayaka Miura via Decision (Unanimous)
Muay Thai: Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym def. Saemapetch Fairtex by TKO (Punches) at 2:55 of Round 1
Saygid Izagakhmaev def. James Nakashima via Submission (D’Arce Choke) at 2:17 of Round 2
Muay Thai: Supergirl Jaroonsak def. Ekaterina Vandaryeva via Decision (Split)
Senzo Ikeda def. Elipitua Siregar via KO (Punch) at 2:00 of Round 3
Kickboxing: Giannis Stoforidis def. Beybulat Isaev via KO (Punch) at 0:31 of Round 1
Tiffany Teo def. Meng Bo via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 3:45 of Round 2
Shuya Kamikubo def. Troy Worthen via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:36 of Round 3
