Tougher than Bruce Lee? China’s first MMA champion Xiong Jingnan on her inspiration, upbringing, and the pain of her first big defeat to Angela Lee – interview

How good was Bruce Lee? A kung fu icon lauded for his martial arts skill and philosophy – readily adopted by Hong Kong’s protest movement – Lee never competed in a single sporting tournament. As a result, there has beenmuch debate among fans about whether Lee would be able to hold his own against professional competitors. Could Lee really beat Chuck Norris? He did so in the 1972 film Way of the Dragon, but away from the cameras Norris was a proven competitor who had won a number of professional karate tournaments. In real life, things may have turned out very differently.

There’s no disputing Xiong Jingnan’s toughness, though. One Championship’s reigning Women’s Strawweight World Champion, Xiong is as tough as they come, making history when she defeated Tiffany Teo in 2018. Not only did victory make her One’s inaugural strawweight champion, it also made her China’s first professional MMA champion − a year before Zhang Weili became a champion in the rival Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Although she has reached the top of the MMA world, Xiong remains as competitive as ever. STYLE talked exclusively to her about what it meant to become the first Chinese MMA world champion and how she can find positives in her first career defeat.

You were born in Shandong Province, what was it like growing up there? I’m very proud of where I come from. Shandong is a province that’s home to many heroes from Chinese history. There were lots of Robin Hood-like people from there, like the heroes from [the classic novel] Water Margin. Confucius and Mencius were both from Shandong, too.

In a lot of provinces in China, especially rural areas, boys tend to be more valued than girls. However, that was never the case in my family. The education that I received from my parents was very direct, and they stressed being kind and helping others. Most importantly, boy or girl, you need to be independent and brave and confident. Those were the three biggest values I learned from my father. Maybe it’s because of how I was raised by my parents but I never thought of myself as a girl or a boy, I simply thought being a good person and helping the less fortunate was most important. That’s what I grew up with.

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How important is your family to you? For me, very important. I have the initials of my family members tattooed on my arm. My father was my role model growing up, and the person who introduced me to boxing. I feel that your family are those who support you no matter what – whether you’re a champion or down at the bottom. That’s how my family is to me. As a professional athlete I rarely get to be at home. I am always at training camps or travelling for fights, that’s why I got those tattoos, so I can be with them wherever I am.

Your father introduced you to combat sports, but has any MMA fighter provided any particular inspiration? There’s not one particular figure I could call an inspiration − I think every single person who chooses to become a pro-MMA fighter is brave and tough. I really admire the spirit of Mei Yamaguchi, also at One Championship, because her physical strength and age aren’t advantages. But every single fight she gives 200 per cent and she never gives up. Every time I watch her I’m in awe. Also Rose Namajunas. She came from a really rough background and grew up in poverty. She saw a lot at a young age. But you really can say that she’s like a rose growing up out of grit. That’s the sort of spirit I like to see and it’s an inspiration to everyone.

You defeated Tiffany Teo in 2018 to become China’s first MMA world champion. What did you feel going into that fight, was there much pressure? When I was notified that I had an opportunity to become the strawweight champion I was overwhelmed. I was so excited. All I thought was: if I win, China will finally have a world champion, and I was so excited. But during the training camp, the stress started to hit me. I wasn’t used to such a packed schedule with interviews and film shootings. And against Tiffany, I broke the thumb on my right hand in the second round, and I felt it right then and there. As a boxer I knew what had happened and that if I continued to punch with that hand then the injury would get worse. But I didn’t really care about the potential future at the moment because I had to win that fight. So I battled on and I started to feel that Tiffany wasn’t at her best; by the fourth round I knew I could finish her. When I won the fight and received the belt and had the Chinese national flag on me I was just so proud.

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What did you feel later, having made history? It meant I was one step closer to my dream. I was brought up believing that you should try to help people whenever you can. And I feel that becoming champion put me in a position where I would be better able to help people. The exposure is a good thing. After winning I received many messages from fans talking about their struggles, about the hard work they’ve put in and how they feel they haven’t received any payback. Using my own story, I’m able to tell people that if you really set your mind on your goal and give 120 per cent, you have a chance to achieve your dream. And it confirmed a theory of mine. I never thought I was the most talent competitor in martial arts, but I feel I’m definitely the hardest worker out there, and I feel hard work can make up for a lot of deficiencies.

And it meant that China finally had a world champion. I really wanted people around the world to see Chinese people’s character, their determination and fighting spirit. Of course, that brings its own pressure as people start to look up to you and you become a role model, of sorts. But that’s a motivation to push myself even more.

Last October you suffered a controversial loss to Angela Lee. Did the nature of that defeat make it harder for you to accept? It’s a good question. I don’t think any professional athlete will admit defeat. I lost, but I wasn’t defeated. Just because I lost a fight doesn’t mean I’m not good. It’s a combat sport; it’s practically impossible not to lose at some stage. Techniques and technology are always developing, there are always new people coming up trying to challenge you. I think all I can do is try to keep the belt for as long as possible.

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Ultimately, in a sport like MMA you’re competing against yourself most of all. You have to compete against your arrogance, thinking you’re the best; your laziness, because you’re human and there are days you just don’t want to train; and your age, which is growing all the time. If I thought that the belt was the end goal and I had nothing else to prove, then I would be eliminated very quickly. In that sense, even though I lost, I don’t regret it. First of all, losing is part of the sport and you should never give up. And secondly, I really, really cherish an opponent like Angela Lee. When you fight against a person that strong, you’re lucky. They work as a reflection, they help you realise how you can improve and where you need to grow more. They help you become someone who is better than yourself as you are today.

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