After falling short in her first shot at UFC gold last time out, Yan Xiaonan now looks to defend her spot as the No. 2 ranked strawweight contender against Tabatha Ricci, who recently moved into the No. 10 spot following back-to-back wins inside the Octagon.
At UFC 300, Yan met strawweight champion Zhang Weili in the co-main event. While the fight didn’t go her way, the 35-year-old showed the heart and resilience of a champion. Despite nearly being stopped in the closing seconds of round one and being out grappled to a 10-8 score in the second, Yan rebounded in round three, scoring a knockdown to win the round on all three judges' scorecards.