MMA: Jihin working on knockout power ahead of Gina Iniong bout

RISING ONE athlete Jihin "Shadow Cat" Radzuan will step outside of her native Malaysia for the first time when she squares off with the Philippines' Gina "Conviction" Iniong at ONE: Clash of Legends in Bangkok on February 16.

The 20-year-old phenom was one of the breakthrough stars of 2018, winning her first three ONE bouts in impressive fashion in front of her hometown fans in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

But Jihin is far from intimidated by being thrown outside of her native comfort zone, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

"It's not going to affect me," she said. "I'll be more concentrated for the fight since I don't need to worry about the local fans who shout until I can't hear my cornerman's instructions.

"I always wanted to fight in foreign land because it's a free holiday."

Training out of Ultimate MMA, Radzuan knows she'll have her hands full against Iniong - a wily, hard-nosed fighter who never takes a backward step.

"[Iniong] is considered a veteran. She's been fighting since before I even knew what MMA was. However, people say work until your idol becomes your rival. I am always confident in my ability to handle every situation."

And that confidence is well-founded. Jihin is a phenomenal grappler with sneaky skills on the feet to boot. She's responsible for one of the best submissions of 2018 - a stunning triangle choke to finish Puja Tomar at ONE: Visions of Victory in March.

"I think my strength is grappling, but I'm not saying I can't beat her in striking. Let's see how it goes. It is quite an interesting matchup.

"But I've been working on every aspect of MMA. The hardest part for me to work on is diet because I love to eat delicious food."

Inspired by her champion contender counterpart "The Panda", Jihin's focus is now on improving her abilities on the feet, which spells danger for the rest of the division.

"I would like to work more on knockout power like Xiong Jing Nan. It's pretty cool to score a KO of the night or a walk-away KO like Brandon Vera."