Athletes
Yan Xiaonan Takes Another Crack At Glory
Chinese Strawweight Eager For First UFC Main Event vs Mackenzie Dern October 1
Yan Xiaonan may have been initially influenced to make the move to mixed martial arts by seeing the first fighter from China to compete in the Octagon, Tiequan Zhang, but when it comes to her favorite UFC fighter, just look 8,400 miles west.
“My favorite fighter from UFC is Conor McGregor,” said Yan. “I think he’s not a fighter, he’s a star. I like his style, his footwork, his techniques and how he acts outside the Octagon.”
No, don’t expect Yan’s personality to mimic that of “The Notorious” one in the lead-up to her first UFC main event against Mackenzie Dern this Saturday, but her hopes are high that a win will kickstart her quest to reach the same heights in the coming years.
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“My goal is the belt,” said Yan. “When I first entered the UFC, my goal at that moment was just to enter the UFC. Right now, my goal is to win the belt, and my passion comes from my desire to win the belt and to make progress every day, little by little, so I can achieve my goal.”
Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan
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Main Event Preview | UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan
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On the fast track to that goal after winning her first six UFC bouts, the Liaoning native hit a roadblock in her last two fights, as she was stopped by current strawweight champion Carla Esparza and then lost a split decision to fellow contender Marina Rodriguez. Now she needs to right her ship by beating Dern.
“She is one of the best grapplers in the division, a black belt in jiu-jitsu, so I think this is a classic striker versus grappler matchup, and I think our fight will let people know who the better MMA fighter is,” said Yan. “This is the biggest challenge to me so far because I lost to Marina Rodriguez. She lost to Marina as well, so if I can win over Mackenzie, that means that I come back to being a contender.”
FREE FIGHTS: Dern vs Nunes | Yan vs Kowalkiewicz
Yan is being modest, as she already sits in the number six spot in the 115-pound rankings, a slot below Dern, which means a win could put the 33-year-old back in the title conversation, something that was once a dream when the longtime Sanda practitioner saw Zhang for the first time and then began to train in an MMA gym.
By 2017, Yan had put together a 9-1, 1 NC record and she got the call to the UFC, where she became the first Chinese woman signed by the promotion.
“My goal was never to be the first female UFC fighter from China,” she said. “My goal was just to become a UFC fighter, so I was so happy.”
And as the wins piled up, Yan’s goals shifted, and following 2020 victories over former world title challengers Karolina Kowlakiewicz and Claudia Gadelha, it was expected that 2021 would be her year. It didn’t work out that way, but if there were positives to be taken from that time period, it was that she found a new training home with Urijah Faber and the Team Alpha Male squad in Sacramento, California, a long way from home.
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“It wasn’t a big sacrifice for me because I love MMA and I enjoy it,” said Yan, who was introduced to Faber and company by teammate and compatriot Song Yadong. “Training overseas, I improve myself. It’s just like being a student, and there has to be sacrifice. I cannot spend time with my parents and I cannot play with my dogs.”
But she can get better, sew up the holes in her game, and get another crack at glory. And yes, she has been working on her takedown defense and ground game in advance of facing an elite grappler in Dern, but the biggest change may be in Yan’s mindset.
Xiaonan Yan's MMA Journey | UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan
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Xiaonan Yan's MMA Journey | UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan
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“I think the biggest lesson I learned from my last fight (against Rodriguez) is to don’t let the judges decide the result of the fight,” she said. “And the other one is, to me, as an athlete fighting in the Octagon, you should fight aggressive to the last second of the fight. Never give up, just go forward and try your best.”
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Important lessons, indeed, and learning them does make the long days and nights away from home worth it, especially since she knows it won’t be forever. But for now, Yan is here and willing to pay the cost to be the boss, just like B.B. King sang.
“The most important reason I stay here is I don’t want to waste my time,” said Yan, who completed her third training camp in Northern California. “I live far away from my home country just because I want to keep getting better every day. Now I think it’s a very critical stage of my pro career, so I want to maximize this for three years to learn as much about MMA as I can and then maybe after I retire, I can teach other, younger athletes in China.”
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
