ONE Championship’s Meng Bo reveals she almost quit MMA – ‘I was thinking I’m doomed, I screwed up’
- Chinese atomweight grand prix contender reflects on ‘dark days’ caused by bone fracture and torn ligament
- ‘ I locked myself in a very small room with all the lighting off. No eating and no drinking,’ Bo says
Meng Bo will be one of the eight women lighting up ONE Championship’s atomweight grand prix quarter-finals next month. But it could all have been so different.
She secured a first-round TKO on her promotional debut in November 2019, but the 24-year-old Bo (17-5) had been in a dark place a few years before, when she lost three of four fights in a seven-month span in 2017.
Frustrated and confused, the Chinese contender – famed as the only woman to beat UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili – almost shut the door completely on her career.
“I had two injuries,” Bo told SCMP MMA. “A bone fracture and a torn ligament. I was totally devastated at that time. So I locked myself in a very small room with all the lighting off. No eating and no drinking. And I was just thinking, I’m doomed, I’m screwed up. I can’t fight no more.
“I was even considering retirement and maybe do something else. But my family and close friends gave me a lot of support during my hard times.
“So what I learned from those dark days is when you are devastated, you are the only one who can help yourself stand up again. So now I just keep reminding myself that I’m young. I can deal with all the setbacks.”