In our new weekly UFC series, our featured fighter at UFC 238 is China’s Yan Xiaonan.
Yan Xiaonan is our first edition of this brand new series called “Featured Fighter”. Every UFC card, I will select a fighter that fans should pay a little more attention too. This week, for UFC 238, it’s China’s Yan Xiaonan, who will be taking on Angela Hill on the preliminary card.
Who is Yan Xiaonan?
The China native was born and fights out of Liaoning, China. Xiaonan is currently 29-years old (38 days after her UFC 238 contest) and fights in the women’s strawweight division. She is currently 3-0 inside the Octagon, with victories over Kailin Curran, Viviane Pereira, and Syuri Kondo. Xiaonan has proved she is ready for the next test. Now, she faces a rightful step up in competition when she collides with 10-time UFC veteran Angela Hill, who is also a former Invicta FC champion, at UFC 238 in Chicago, Illinois.
Yan Xiaonan’s Style:
Xiaonan has a Sanda (Chinese Kickboxing) background, and is a very active fighter. In her most recent contest against Syuri Kondo, she landed 150 significant strikes and attempted over 300 strikes in total in just three rounds. In her UFC career, she averages over seven significant strikes landed per minute according to UFCStats. The Chinese competitor also has unorthodox kicks, which she uses with her Sanda style well with oblique, side and low kicks.
She has confidence in her hands, and is more than willing to take a shot to land two or three of her own in return. Xiaonan is not afraid to throw combinations consistently and can fight while being pressured or being the pressure fighter. She also likes to throw spinning back fists, which she did numerous times in her last bout against Kondo. Her takedown defense could be an issue against the better wrestlers in the division, as Kailin Curran took her down twice in their contest back in 2017 and her only professional loss came by way of submission (back in 2010, nonetheless).
On the feet is where Xiaonan thrives. She is no easy out to any fighter in her division, as her standup style of Sanda is quite tricky, and she has power alongside that to end somebody’s night. With half of her wins coming by knockout, Xiaonan’s foes have to be careful to not end with the same fate. The record of her opponents so far in her career is 46-22 (1 no contest), so a bout against Angela Hill could be Xiaonan’s coming out party as it is undoubtedly the biggest fight of her career so far.
Will Yan Xiaonan extend her UFC win streak to 4-0, or will Angela Hill provide an upset, despite coming in on short notice?
