Yan Xiaonan (born June 16, 1989) is a Chinese

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

(MMA). She currently competes in the Strawweight division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). As of November 8, 2022, she is ranked #6 in the UFC women's strawweight rankings and #15 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Background

Yan's background is in Sanda. Yan attended Xi'an Sports University and was introduced to an MMA program by her coach Zhao Xuejun in 2009. At the Xi'an Sports University, Yan continued her practice in Sanda. It wasn't until 2015 that Yan switched over to MMA.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Yan began training martial arts at the age of 13. She started her professional MMA career in 2009 and she has fought in various promotions, most notably

Road Fighting Championship Road Fighting Championship (Road FC; ) is a South Korean-based mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is ...

. She amassed a record of 7-1 (NC), before signing with the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Yan was the first Chinese female fighter signed by UFC. Yan made her UFC debut on November 25, 2017 against

Kailin Curran Jaydene Kailin Asoa Curran (born April 11, 1991) is an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She previously fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life Curran was born and rais ...

at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Gastelum. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Her next fight came on June 23, 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Edwards against

Nadia Kassem Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...

; however she was replaced by

Viviane Pereira Viviane "Sucuri' Pereira (born August 8, 1993) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and competes in strawweight division. She last competed for Invicta Fighting Championships. Professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Pereira has also fought ...

due to injury. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Yan faced

Syuri Kondo is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, better known simply as . Syuri formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Syuri is currently working for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the ...

on November 24, 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Yan was expected to face

Felice Herrig Felice Nicole Herrig (born September 18, 1984) is an American retired kickboxing, kickboxer, Muay Thai, Muay Thai fighter, and Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the strawweight div ...

on June 8, 2019 at

UFC 238 ''UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on June 8, 2019 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Bantamweight Champi ...

. However, on April 30, 2019 it was reported that Herrig suffered from a torn ACL and withdrew from the event. Herrig was replaced by

Angela Hill Angela Patrice Hill (born January 12, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She was formerly signed with the Invicta Fighting Championships, of which she was the strawweight champion. She is also ...

. Yan won the fight by unanimous decision. Yan was scheduled to face

Ashley Yoder Ashley Elizabeth Yoder (born October 20, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist and competes in Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Biography Yoder was born on October 20, 1987 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United ...

on October 26, 2019 at

UFC on ESPN+ 20 ''UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Askren'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 162'' or '' UFC on ESPN+ 20'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 26, 2019 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in ...

. However, Yan pulled out of the fight in late-September citing a foot injury. She was replaced by

Randa Markos Randa Cemil Markos-Thomas (born August 10, 1985) is an Iraqi-born Canadian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She most notably fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Personal life Markos was ...

. Yan faced

Karolina Kowalkiewicz Karolina Kowalkiewicz (born 15 October 1985) is a Polish mixed martial artist. She currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki#Women's Strawweight Championship, KSW Women's Flyweight ...

on February 22, 2020 at

UFC Fight Night 168 ''UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. Hooker'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 168'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 26'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 23, 2020, at Spark Arena in Auckland ...

. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Yan talked of difficulty leading up to the Kowalkiewicz fight due to the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in China. She and her team moved her camp to Thailand to train for the fight. Yan was scheduled to face

Cláudia Gadelha Ana Cláudia Dantas Gadelha (; born December 7, 1988), is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the Women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of 2022, Gadelha works for the Ultimate Fightin ...

on September 27, 2020 at

UFC 253 ''UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 27, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event was orig ...

, but a knee injury sustained by Gadelha ruled her out of the bout. The pair was rescheduled to UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira on November 7, 2020 instead. As opposed to her last camp where Yan was forced to move around three times, Yan says that the pandemic situation in China is completely under control and the fight camp for Gadelha was normal. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Yan faced

Carla Esparza Carla Kristen Esparza (born October 10, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champio ...

on May 22, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 188. For her camp with Esparza, Yan has spent her camp splitting time between the

UFC Performance Institute The UFC Performance Institute is the official mixed martial arts (MMA) facility for American promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The building is located in Enterprise, Nevada opposite the UFC Apex, and serves as the company headquar ...

in Shanghai and Las Vegas. She lost the bout via TKO after being dominated on the ground throughout the bout. Yan faced

Marina Rodriguez Marina Alcalde Rodriguez (born April 29, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist (MMA). She currently competes in the Strawweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 8, 2022, she is #5 in the UFC women's stra ...

on March 5, 2022 at

UFC 272 ''UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 5, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ...

. She lost the fight via split decision. Yan faced

Mackenzie Dern Mackenzie Lynne Dern Santos (born March 24, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. She is a former world No. 1 ranked IBJJF competitor, currently ranked 6th among the female divisions. She is ...

UFC Fight Night 211 ''UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 211'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 69'' and ''UFC Vegas 61'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 1, 2022, at the UFC Apex ...

. She won the bout via majority decision.

Mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yan, Xiaonan Living people 1989 births Strawweight mixed martial artists Chinese female mixed martial artists Chinese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Sportspeople from Shenyang Chinese sanshou practitioners Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu