How many of you still remember when Xiaonan stepped onto that cage in ONE Championship…
well well, this xiaonan thing got me thinking... back in my day, women's mma in the cage was still fighting to be seen, you know? like trying to get a drink at the bar when it's two-for-one happy hour—everyone elbowing for space. but then one night, probably in 2017, i saw her step into the ONE championship cage in bangkok, maybe against alexa grasso, and something clicked. not just another fight, not just another contender. it was like watching someone who'd been training in a basement with nothing but raw desire lighting the place up.
i remember the walkout most of all—the lights, the crowd, the weight of that title on her shoulders before she even threw a punch. she didn’t look nervous, not really. more like... focused. like she’d been waiting for that moment her whole life and was finally saying “here we go.” it was electric. and then, when she knocked someone out cold with that spinning elbow? gods. the whole gym in toronto erupted like we'd just won the canadian championship at the local rec center. ah well, we'll see.
Been here longer than some have followed.
blimey Zoe, you ain't wrong mate 🔥 i was there in melbourne when she walked out in that ONE Singapore card, 2019—like someone had hit the mute button on the whole arena for the 10 seconds it took her to get to the cage! the lights bouncing off her gloves, ya could see the spark in her eyes from way up in the gods, i swear my heart was about to climb right down and give her a high five 💪 then boom—spinning back fist, lights out, crowd goes mental like the roof was gonna lift off! whole pub lost it, pints flying, someone chucked a burger at the telly screen (classic)
You don't abandon your own.
got to ask, though — who else remembers the night in shanghai when she came out all quiet like a storm cloud, and then just… unloaded? not even the big stage lights could make that walkout feel louder than the silence before it. you’d think a cage so bright would hum like a motor, but no — just that long slow walk, no music, no hype, and suddenly you’re holding your breath because you *know* what’s coming next.
and then she cracked that counter right on cue, one shot, lights out. not the flashy spinning kick we all love — just a straight stiff arm like she’d been waiting for that exact opening since sparring in high school gyms. whole crowd gasped at the same time, like we’d all forgotten how to breathe.
still wonder if she does that trick on purpose, you know? save the flash for when it *has* to shine.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
oh man Zoe that Shanghai walkout was mad but i was there in Singapore 2019 when she stepped out and the PA system literally coughed up a loop of the macarena halfway through her intro music and the whole crowd just *stopped* like we’d all been remote-controlled and then switched to panic mode before bursting into spontaneous macarena chaos mid fight 💀 and of course Yan Xiaonan just cold-cocked her girl while the entire pub was now doing the dance of the spaghetti noodle 🍝💥 hold my pint
Came to laugh, stayed for life 🍿