“The same level playing field” – Xiong Jing Nan says boxing background won’t play to her advantage

'The Panda' Xiong Jing Nan is looking to challenge herself by competing in a first-of-its-kind ruleset under the ONE Championship banner.

As she had always done in the past, fans can expect the former Chinese national boxer to give it her all when she returns.

On Friday, September 29, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the Evolve MMA athlete will share the circle with Muay Thai specialist ‘Wondergirl’ Nat Jaroonsak in a special rules fight that looks to level the playing field between them.

Scheduled for a trio of three-minute rounds, the two women will face off in boxing with four-ounce MMA and Muay Thai gloves resting on their fists in a first-of-its-kind contest in ONE Championship.

Despite ‘Wondergirl’ being the dedicated striker of the two, many have been quick to point out the strengths that the ONE strawweight MMA world champion brings to the table.

Coming into MMA with a background in boxing, the divisional queen went as far as to represent her country at the international level.

That being said, Xiong Jing Nan doesn’t believe that her prior experience in boxing gives her all that much of an advantage in this fight.

Having dedicated the most part of her recent journey to competing in MMA, she has been more focused during her training over the years on working on her other skill sets.

Going back to having a primary focus on boxing for this camp, she believes that her opponent will have just as much of an advantage in this area as her:

“I do not agree nor disagree with the comments of the people from outside. Because for me, this is just for all of us, for all the athletes, this is just the same level playing field.”

“On my end, actually, I have been training on MMA, and then for the boxing, I haven't really focused much on it. And this is actually the moment that I wanted to go back to train again on the boxing. So I think for me, or for the opponent, it’s just the same.”

Watch the full interview below:

ONE Fight Night 14 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription this Friday, September 29.