Meng Bo heads to the ONE Circle for her atomweight Grand Prix quarter-final against Ritu Phogat.
Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3163177/one-championship-xiong-jingnan-meng-bo-could Mixed Martial Arts
ONE Championship: Xiong Jingnan, Meng Bo could put friendship aside for title fight ‘that would be the real rise of Chinese MMA’
- Strawweights return to action at ONE: Heavy Hitters on Friday in Singapore, and an all-Chinese showdown could be next if both women win
- ‘We have a good relationship, but we might have to face each other,’ admits champion Xiong
Xiong Jingnan celebrates her unanimous decision win over Michelle Nicolini at ONE: Empower. Photos: ONE Championship
ONE Championship’s Heavy Hitters event on Friday could set up a fight that would be massive for the Chinese MMA scene.
The card, which will emanate from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, will be topped by a strawweight title fight between Chinese champion Xiong Jingnan and Japanese challenger Ayaka Miura.
Earlier on the broadcast, China’s Meng Bo will make her debut in the strawweight division after a long run at atomweight, taking on No 1-ranked contender Tiffany Teo.
If Meng (17-5) beats Teo, a fight with Xiong (16-2) could be next.
“If I have the chance to take on the belt, I will definitely give 100 per cent of myself to win that belt,” the former atomweight, 25, told the Post.
Xiong, while focused on her imminent title defence against Miura, will be paying close attention to Meng’s strawweight debut, and recognises that a fight with her countrywoman could be on the horizon.
“[Meng is] a very high-level athlete,” the 34-year-old champion told the Post ahead of her fight with Miura. “[She has] good boxing, a good ground game. I think there’s a chance we might have to face each other.”
You may detect a tinge of reluctance when listening to Xiong and Meng discuss fighting one another. That is not just because they’re representing the same country.
The pair are friends, and have helped each other prepare for fights in the past.
Xiong Jingnan punches Michelle Nicolini.
“We have a good relationship off the stage, for sure,” Xiong said. “I gave her some suggestions after some fights that she lost. We always talk to each other.”
Xiong, who has beaten Teo twice before, may even offer Meng some last-minute advice for her fight with the Singaporean this Friday.
“We haven’t been talking too much [before this fight], but we have discussed that she will sit down with me and we will talk about the strategy for this fight with Tiffany Teo,” Meng said.
Meng Bo punches Ritu Phogat in their atomweight Grand Prix quarter-final.
Some fighters have a difficult time putting friendship aside for the sake of competition. Meng has never experienced that challenge before, but believes her relationship with the champ could lead to “a better fight” than we might get otherwise.
One way or the other, the fight would be of massive significance for the Chinese MMA scene, which has recently been enjoying a boom period thanks to fighters like Xiong and Meng, and others like Zhang Weili and Li Jingliang in the UFC.
“One Chinese person winning the belt – that’s not the rise of Chinese MMA,” Meng said. “If two Chinese people compete for a single belt, that would be the real rise of Chinese MMA.”
“Either way, the belt belongs to a Chinese person,” Xiong echoed. “I think that would help the whole MMA industry in China grow up, big time.”
Xiong will enter the ONE Championship Circle this Friday riding decision victories over Michelle Nicolini and Teo. Her last loss occurred in October of 2019, when she was submitted by Angela Lee in a failed bid to capture the ONE atomweight title. She has defended her strawweight belt five times.
Meng came up short in her last fight, losing a decision to Indian wrestling star Ritu Phogat in the ONE atomweight Grand Prix. That setback was preceded by seven consecutive victories, including stoppages against Laura Balin and Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol.