ONE Strawweight Queen Xiong Jing Nan Earns Brown Belt In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

KEY POINTS

Xiong Jing Nan gets promoted to brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Xiong is the reigning ONE women's strawweight champion
Xiong has made a name for herself as an elite striker

They say that the best are the best because they continue to learn.

Already one of the best fighters in the mixed martial arts (MMA) world, Xiong Jing Nan isn't resting on her laurels and she continues to learn and grow as a competitor.

Seen as one of the most dangerous strikers on ONE Championship's roster, Xiong has recently been sharpening her tools and adding to her wide arsenal of weapons.

On the eve of the new year, Xiong leveled up and was promoted to a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Xiong was promoted by Evolve MMA teammate and former ONE strawwweight champion Alex Silva, who himself is a third-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and one of the lead instructors at the aforementioned gym in Singapore.

"Thank you, my coach and also my dear brother Alex Silva for surprising me in this way on the last day of 2022," Xiong said in a social media post. "This is a recognition, a summary for this journey, and it's also an absolute new motivation for 2023."

"Let's move forward together like what we have been doing. Lastly, I love you all guys for everything, and wish you all a happy new year."

The rank of brown belt is one of the higher levels in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is just one grade below black belt.

2022 was indeed a good year for Xiong, who was able to successfully defend her ONE strawweight hampionship on two occasions—against Japanese submission specialist Ayaka Miura at ONE: Heavy Hitters in January and versus reigning ONE women's atomweight queen Angela Lee in a trilogy bout at ONE on Prime Video 2 in October.

Xiong and Lee have gone head-to-head twice before, with the former taking the first meeting and Lee prevailing in the second duel.

"The Panda" laid the rivalry to rest by unanimous decision in the rubber match.

Given that Xiong is up by 2-1 in their series, it's quite possible that the two might meet for a fourth time in the near future.