ONE Championship: Xiong Jingnan sees early knockout of Tiffany Teo on the cards
- Chinese strawweight champ looks for repeat performance in rematch with Singaporean star
- ‘I see a quick win, with KO, and I see myself defending my title,’ says Xiong on eve of Inside the Matrix clash
It’s been more than two years since Xiong “The Panda” Jingnan claimed the ONE Championship strawweight title with a commanding TKO victory over Tiffany “No Chill” Teo.
For all that has happened since – to everyone, everywhere – the Chinese fighter sees no reason to believe their rematch will go any other way.
“What I want is the KO – at the fastest speed ever,” said the 32-year-old on a call from Singapore. “I see a quick win, with a KO, and I see myself defending my title.”
Teo (9-1) has emerged from that loss in January 2018 looking like a fighter reborn but Xiong (14-2) has watched, and she has admired the changes her opponent has gone through. But no matter, said Xiong.
“Once you enter the Circle there are lots of things that can’t be predicted,” said Xiong. “We are both strikers and we have both been working on our ground games, but I think this fight will still be explosive, and I don’t see the result being different from last time.”
The Xiong-Teo clash is part of ONE Championship’s return to the fray on Friday night with four titles up for grabs on the six-bout Inside the Matrix card at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The Singapore-based promotion has been able to pull off smaller shows during the Covid-19 pandemic but nothing quite like this.