Most recently, the dominant World Champion defended her gold for a jaw-dropping seventh time when she defeated atomweight queen Angela Lee in their heated trilogy bout at ONE Fight Night 2 on Saturday,  Oct. 1.

Immediately following the match, fans were wondering if “The Panda” was going to drop down to atomweight and take another crack at Lee’s belt. Although that could be possible, here are three other fighters we would love to see Xiong engage with at either strawweight or atomweight.

#1 Stamp Fairtex

Xiong has expressed interest in facing Stamp Fairtex before and has shown she is capable of getting down to atomweight. After all, she did fight Lee at the lower weight class at ONE: CENTURY PART I in October 2019.

A mixed martial arts bout between the two heavy-handed strikers would be fascinating to watch. The skills that Stamp has developed over her many years in the striking sports would be put to the test by Xiong’s ruthless boxing.

Moreover, Stamp is a former two-sport ONE World Champion, so there is no doubt that she would be unafraid to face “The Panda’s” might and conversely, the Chinese star would be motivated to take out a red-hot competitor like the Fairtex standout.

#2 Anissa Meksen

Anissa Meksen has proven herself to be a worthy contender so far in her tenure in ONE. She is 3-0 inside the Circle and has been vocal about getting more action.

Meksen and Xiong could put their standup skills to the test against one another and the result is guaranteed to be fireworks.

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They could stand and bang in a Muay Thai or kickboxing match if “The Panda” were interested or Meksen could take a stab at MMA. This second option isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility, seeing as the French-Algerian striking legend will meet Stamp in mixed rules super-fight at ONE Fight Night 6 in January next year.

Wherever Xiong and Meksen meet and under whatever rule set, fans can expect a striking war to go down.

#3 Smilla Sundell

Smilla Sundell made history earlier this year when she became the youngest person ever to win a ONE World Title at only 17. “The Hurricane” defeated Jackie Buntan at ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic in April to capture the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship.

Seeing Xiong in a Muay Thai fight would be entertaining, especially against an incredible opponent like Sundell. Her aggressive style would be an intriguing matchup against Sundell's pressure within the Circle and it would promise fans one of the year's best fights.

While we theorize about who Xiong could take on next, catch all the action at ONE 162: Zhang vs. Di Bella on Friday, Oct. 21 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship.