ONE Championship shutters strawweight division, releases reigning champion
Xiong Jingnan R of China celebrates after winning the ONE Fight Night 14 bout against Nat Jaroonsak of Thailand at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, Sept. 30, 2023. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua via Getty Images) ONE Championship has shuttered its strawweight division and released reigning 115-pound titleholder, Xiong Jingnan, according to a report from Bangkok Post .
Jingnan has only competed once across the last three years, a unanimous decision victory over Meng Bo as part of the ONE Championship: “ONE Friday Fights 100” card roughly one year back. While Jingnan is 19-2 with double-digit knockout victories, she also turned 38 back in January. Whether or not that affects her market value in the eyes of UFC remains to be seen.
It also doesn’t paint the most optimistic picture for the future of ONE Championship, which appears content to run weekly “Fight Night” cards at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok — and not much else. That said, they certainly produce a fair share of highlight-reel knockouts . As of this writing, trips to Tokyo (April) and Denver (June) remain on the ONE schedule … for now.
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