Newark, NJ — Yan Xiaonan believes the winner of her fight with former women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 288 this Saturday will be one step closer to a title shot.
She just doesn’t know how far away that title shot might be.
“This fight is very important to me, and I think this fight makes either me or Jessica, the winner, one more step closer to the title,” Xiaonan (16-3, 1NC) told media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s media day in Newark. “So I believe the winner should be a step closer to the title fight.”
Champ Weili Zhang, a fellow Chinese star, has yet to defend her title since winning it back against Carla Esparza last year. Her schedule seems up in the air at the moment, and there’s a question as to whether Xiaonan could slip into a title shot with a win. Especially given she would be a fresh face in the title picture following years of Carla Esparza, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Rose Namajunas and Zhang rotating shots.
“Everything is possible,” admitted Xiaonan. “Maybe the winner of this fight can be the next title challenger, if Dana [White] wants that.”
As for opponent Andrade, who returns to 115lbs after a stint at flyweight, Yan Xiaonan feels she’s back at her proper weight class.
“I think strawweight is the best division for Jessica, because she doesn’t have enough size advantage in flyweight or bantamweight. So I think she fits this division naturally, and I also think she’s one of the best fighters in this division, because she’s the former champion and also fought a lot of top opponents in this division.”
Xiaonan picked up a key win in her last outing, winning a close majority decision against Mackenzie Dern. The Chinese strawweight feels she has been improving ever since.
“I think everything improved a little bit since my last fight,” she stated. “I never stopped training since my last fight. My boxing, my wrestling, everything is getting better now.”
Watch the full UFC 288 media day appearance by Yan Xiaonan above.
