Ming Shi’s parents may find out the hard way that their daughter is a highlight-reel knockout artist fighting under the UFC banner.
At UFC Fight Night 248, Shi (17-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC) became the first “Road to UFC” strawweight tournament winner by landing a brutal head kick in the third round against Xiaocan Feng. It wasn’t your typical knockout; Feng was down for several minutes and was stretchered out of the octagon.
For Shi, 30, the moment prompted mixed emotions. She had just won the biggest fight of her career as a sizable underdog to became a UFC fighter, but as a medical doctor, she had concerns about her opponent’s health.
“That’s my biggest weakness, I have too much mercy,” Shi said during an interview on the “UFC Fight Night 248 Post Show.” “I’m not aggressive enough. It’s really difficult for me to hurt my opponent. Especially she trained so hard, she’s so young. It’s really sad to see she lie down there for more than 10 minutes. I hope she recovers soon.”
The “Road to UFC” final bout took place on the event’s prelims at Galaxy Arena in Macau. Updates on Feng’s condition were relayed to the broadcast audience during the main card as she was evaluated at a nearby hospital to help ease the concerns for the scary scene.
Although Shi, who was nicknamed “Dr. Sleep” by Michael Bisping during the broadcast, was worried about her opponent, she has plenty of reasons to celebrate. She earned a UFC contract by winning “Road to UFC” and was also awared a $50,000 Performance of the Night award for the highlight moment.
While things are looking up for Shi, there is one other area of concern as she moves forward. The cat may be out of the bag that she’s a fighter, which is something her parents did not know about. As far as they know, she simply competes in traditional martial arts competitions to break wooden boards.
“I don’t think I’m going to mention it to them,” Shi said. “For my parents, they are traditional Chinese parents and they worry about me. Only doctor or a lawyer, I don’t have other choice. So, I’m going to fight UFC, but maybe every time I will go back home after I recover.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 248.
