“She was fighting not to lose” - Angela Lee thinks Xiong Jing Nan is not the killer she once was

ONE women’s atomweight world champion Angela Lee thinks her opponent at ONE on Prime Video 2, Xiong Jing Nan, is now just a shell of her former self.

‘Unstoppable’ is aware of just how ruthless the ONE women’s strawweight queen can be since she’s responsible for Lee’s first career setback in 2019. However, the Singaporean-American star just doesn’t see it anymore.

‘The Panda’ swarmed the Singaporean-American star in their first matchup, stopping her with an unforgiving combination of body kicks and punches. Lee, though, strongly believes that the Chinese world champion has already peaked and that her best days are already behind her.

The 115-pound division queen claimed she snatched Xiong’s soul when she got even in their rematch at ONE: Century Part 1. The United MMA and Evolve MMA standout also took away Xiong’s unbeaten run inside the circle, submitting her with a rear-naked choke.

Now, the pair will look to settle the score in the main event of ONE’s second serving at US primetime this year, which airs on September 30 from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

After watching Xiong’s last three title defenses, Lee claimed that ‘The Panda’ is no longer the same killer she once was. Lee explained in an interview with ONE:

“I feel like when I watched Xiong in [those recent defenses], she was not fighting to win – she was fighting not to lose. Sometimes when you’re champion for a while, you become stagnant and you’re just fighting to keep your belt, not fighting to win and destroy every person that’s in front of you”.

Lee’s criticism of Xiong’s last three performances does have its merits, considering the usually aggressive world champion has seemed gun-shy ever since their rematch.

But while most pundits lauded Xiong for adopting a more methodical and cerebral approach, the 26-year-old MMA superstar saw it otherwise.

As far as Angela Lee is concerned, Xiong coasted through those fights with Tiffany Teo, Michelle Nicolini, and Ayaka Miura, knowing well she was up in the judges’ scorecards.

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Xiong Jing Nan wants to showcase her evolution in trilogy with Angela Lee

Contrary to her opponent’s claim that she regressed as a fighter, Xiong Jing Nan has argued that her skills are only getting better.

The Sanda specialist wants to put those questions to bed by outclassing her rival in their upcoming grudge match.

Xiong said:

“I’m sure everyone is looking forward to it, including me and Angela Lee. I believe that she knows me very well, and I know her very well. But I’m happy that I’m not the same Xiong Jing Nan. I’m improving and I’m changing, so I think it will be a very, very good match to watch.”

Xiong’s maturity is evident in her last three outings, considering she no longer approaches every match with reckless abandon. ‘The Panda’, however, won’t be happy that Angela Lee questioned her killer instinct and she’ll look to prove her otherwise real soon.