China’s Xiong unfazed by opponent’s withdrawal

China’s female mixed martial arts star Xiong Jingnan looked unfazed over opponent Angela Lee’s sudden retirement from Friday’s One Championship bout.

Xiong was scheduled to fight Lee on Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Lee’s hometown, in a strawweight bout, but the latter decided to withdraw from the match due to a back injury, which was only announced earlier this week.

“I have prepared everything for this fight,” Xiong told Chinese reporters in Singapore on Thursday. “But injury happens to everyone, I hope she can recover soon.”

Xiong, now 30, said she will continue to work to stay sharp and wait for a second match against Lee.

Xiong, who was a boxer before converting to martial arts, successfully defended her world title twice this year.

Dubbed “The Panda,” she is riding on consecutive eightfight wins. Her most recent bout saw her defeat Brazil’s Samara Santos to retain her title and push her record to 16-1.

In One’s weight class, the strawweight division generally refers to fighters weighing between 52.3 and 56.7 kilograms and sits between the lighter atomweight division and the heavier flyweight division.

The cancelation of the Xiong-Lee showdown means the fight between One world bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and interim titleholder Kevin Belingon will become the main event on Friday’s fight night in Singapore.

The fight is also considered a title rematch for the two, after they met back in 2016 when Brazilian Fernandes outperformed the Philippine fighter with a kimura lock.