Closing in on four full years as champion, “The Panda” will defend her title against Ayaka Miura in the One Championship “Heavy Hitters” headliner on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Xiong enters the cage on a two-fight winning streak. She last appeared at One Championship “Empower,” where she took a unanimous decision from Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Michelle Nicolini on Sept. 3. Meanwhile, Miura has rattled off seven victories across her past eight outings. She last competed on April 28, when she submitted Rayane Marques Bastos with a scarf hold armlock in the first round of their One Championship “Dangal” pairing.
As Xiong and Miura approach their high-stakes showdown at 125 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
33: Years of age for Xiong, who was born on Jan. 12, 1988 in Jining, China.
10: Xiong wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 63% of her career total (16). Her list of victims includes Angela Lee, Samara Santos Cunha, Tiffany Teo and April Osenio. Xiong owns one other win by submission—she put away Inna Hutsal with an armbar at Kunlun Fight 9 on Aug. 31, 2014—and five more by decision.
5: Countries in which Xiong has competed as a mixed martial artist. She has gone 11-1 in her native China, 2-0 in Singapore, 1-1 in Japan, 1-0 in Thailand and 1-0 in Indonesia.
1,455: Days spent by Xiong as One Championship strawweight champion. She captured the 125-pound title with a fourth-round technical knockout of the aforementioned Teo on Jan. 20, 2018 and has since defended it on five occasions.
8: Consecutive calendar years in which Xiong has fought at least once. She went 1-0 in 2014, 5-1 in 2015, 2-0 in 2016, 1-0 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 1-1 in 2019, 1-0 in 2020 and 1-0 in 2021.
31: Years of age for Miura, who was born in Tokyo on Sept. 17, 1990.
7: Miura victories by submission, accounting for 64% of her career total (11). Her methods of choice: six scarf hold armlocks and one arm-triangle choke. Miura holds four other victories by decision.
4: Promotions in which Miura has plied her MMA trade. She has gone 4-1 with one no contest in Pancrase, 4-1 in One Championship, 2-1 in Deep and 1-0 in Tribe Tokyo Fight.
19: Professional rounds completed by Miura. She has gone the distance five times and boasts a 4-1 record in those bouts. Emi Fujino was responsible for Miura’s only defeat, as she outpointed her at a Deep event in 2014.
73: Seconds needed for Miura to submit Laura Balin with a scarf hold armlock at One Championship “Called to Greatness” on Feb. 22, 2019. Having occurred nearly three years ago, it remains the fastest finish of her 15-fight career.