New and Improved Ayaka Miura: Confident in Her Ability to Submit Xiong Jing Nan

Japanese mixed martial arts star ‘Zombie’ Ayaka Miura is back in the win column following an impressive victory over highly regarded Chinese fighter Meng Bo.

The two elite strawweights met on the main card of the recently concluded ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video. The event took place at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, November 4th.

Ayaka Miura made Meng look like an easy opponent, finishing her in the first round with her signature scarf-hold Americana. But the victory came as such a relief for the 33-year-old Japanese veteran after having lost her last three fights prior. Speaking to the South China Morning Post after her most recent win, Miura expressed utter satisfaction with her submission triumph:

“Last time I couldn’t do much. But this time, if I take her down. I can finish her.”

Prior to this win, Ayaka Miura dropped three straight. She lost to reigning ONE women’s strawweight MMA world champion ‘The Panda’ Xiong Jing Nan by unanimous decision and was stopped in two rounds by Dayane Cardoso shortly after. Earlier this year, Miura crossed over into the submission grappling realm to take on American BJJ savant Danielle Kelly. After a surprisingly competitive fight, Miura lost a decision on the scorecards. Now having beaten Meng, ‘Zombie’ is back in the win column and riding a winner’s high.

What’s next for the 33-year-old? Miura believes she is a completely different fighter now and is confident she can defeat reigning strawweight queen Xiong if she and ‘The Panda’ ever cross paths again. Whether or not Miura has earned another crack at the division’s belt remains to be seen.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade via replay on-demand with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.