By day Shi Ming heals patients as a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. By night she trains to deliver brutal knockouts in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Shi shot to fame in November when she won a contract with UFC with a devastating kick that saw Chinese compatriot Feng Xiaocan carried out of the octagon on a stretcher.

There was no trace of that ferocity in the demure, softly spoken figure who spoke last week ahead of her UFC debut.