UFC Strawweight Yan Xiaonan expects her next fight to be against champion, Zhang Weili.
This past weekend, Xiaonan earned herself the biggest win of her 20-fight professional career, knocking out former 125lb UFC champion, Jessica Andrade. ‘Nine’, landed a monster right hook, slumping a charging Andrade in just over two minutes.
With the win, Xiaonan has seriously bolstered her claim to be the next title challenger, and it seems that UFC President, Dana white is in agreement.
Yan Xiaonan reveals title shot conversation with Dana White
Talking with James Lynch via MiddleEasy, Xiaonan stated that she believes she is the most deserving challenger for the next title shot.
“UFC hasn’t announced anything about Weili, what’s for her next. I think what they were waiting for was this fight, to see who deserves the title shot more, me or Lemos,” Xiaonan said. “I think I did better than her and I deserve the title shot more than her.
Xiaonan also revealed that backstage following her win, White had stated that he wanted to stage a fight between Xiaonan and Weili in their homeland of China.
Right after the fight when I was in the Octagon, I walked towards Dana White… ‘Hey, give me the belt, give me the title shot.’ Xiaonan said. “After the fight, I also met Dana (in) the locker room. I said, ‘Hey, I want the title shot.’ He said, ‘Okay, let’s do it in China.’ And he is working on having a UFC event at some point this year in China… It’s going to be a historical moment… (It could be) in winter, like, December this year.” (Transcribed by MMA News)
If the UFC were to host the an event in China, it would be the first time the promotion had been in the country since August 31, 2019. In the main event, Weili would defeat then champion, Andrade, to win her first UFC title.
Who do you think would win, Yan Xiaonan or Zhang Weili?