Shanghai single mother sets ONE Championship submission record
Supermom Miao Jie and her 3-year-old son
She is no ordinary mother. As a single mom, Mao Jie defied the odds to do everything for her son, and rightfully came to be hailed as a supermom.
But the 30-year-old Shanghai native had more to her than just performing the traditional duties of housework and childcare. She proved her super submission skills after she recorded the fastest submission at ONE Championship, which was held at the Shanghai’s Oriental Sports Center on September 2.
It was the first time that ONE, Asia’s best-known MA (martial arts) series, was staged in Shanghai. Miao’s fight was the seventh of the 10 fights scheduled for the night. She took on Mona Samir, a silver medalist at the African Wrestling Championships.
Coming into the flyweight fight, Miao maintained her focus even though her Egyptian opponent kept circling away from her with looping hooks. But the “supermom” eventually got close enough to latch onto her and quickly brought her to the ground.
After some brief jockeying for position, Miao jumped onto Samir’s back and locked her in a tight armbar, forcing Samir to submit easily.
Miao ended the bout in double-quick time of 49 seconds, giving her an MMA record of 3-1.
“It feels super good to win my first fight on the ONE stage, though I had not expected to set a record,” Miao said after clinching the victory. “It’s the best reward for my hard training.”
Miao Jie (above) has created a 49-second knockout record in her bout against Mona Samir from Egypt.
She said she managed to apply her strategy in the fight in which she gave full play to her Brazilian jujitsu skills after “luring the opponent to the trap” she set. Asked what was the first thing she wanted to do after the victory, Miao said she wanted to rush back to her son and share the good news with him before he goes to sleep.
“He has no idea about MMA, except that it’s his mother’s job,” Miao said with all the tenderness she felt for her 3-year-old son. “I have been working and training hard and hoping to set a good example for him. He is the biggest motivation in my life.
“I could not spend much time with my son for a few months before the fight due to strict training. But he was very understanding and just watched me train."
Miao started off as a judo athlete and won several national youth tournaments. She started to train for MMA in April. As a fighter and a mother, she wants more understanding from people for the sport and especially for female fighters.
“Mixed martial arts are not about violence or bloodshed. If someone is interested, give him or her proper directions so that they can learn self-protection skills while strengthening the mind," she explains.
“I won’t force my son to follow my footsteps, but I don’t mind giving him early education about the sport. One should always learn from professional athletes about self-discipline,” says Miao.
Miao says every time she picks up an injury, her son would touch the bruise and even give it a kiss. It was the best medicine for her.
Miao, who is also working as an MMA coach in Shanghai, returned to work the very next day after her success. “I know athletes only have a few years of peak time in their career. I want to keep myself in good shape and achieve more on the stage.
“I also want to tell the world that gender and age should not become obstacles when you chase your dreams. Women have a wide choice even as a mother,” she adds.
Miao was not the only Chinese women athlete at the ONE Championship in Shanghai. In the strawweight bout, Dalian native Xu Chunyan beat Cambodia’s Eh Ya Nut, a Khun Khmer specialist, with unanimous decision after a three-round battle.
Xu Chunyan celebrates after defeating Cambodia’s Eh Ya Nut in their strawweight bout.
Xu, 27, is a former WBC Intercontinental Boxing champion and shifted to MMA last year. Both athletes were non-committal in the opening stages, choosing to feel each other out before really engaging. It was Xu who took the initiative and showed her wrestling ability in the second round.
There was another three-round battle between two Shanghai-based competitors — Zhang Zehao, a sanda and jujitsu practitioner, and Li Chengchao, who has a boxing background. Zhang won the duel after the referee stopped the contest in the second round when Li appeared too tired to fight.
In the main bout of the evening, welterweight world champion Ben Askren of the United States defended his title and his undefeated record after taking down Swedish challenger Zebaztian Kadestam in the second round of their five-round clash.
“We intentionally arranged Shanghai-based athletes for the debut event herei to get more local fans involved,” said Victor Cui, CEO International of ONE Championship.
According to Cui, ONE will visit Beijing on October 21 – its second stop in China this year. It will further expand in the country next year by staging four to six events.
