Gadelha (L) of Brazil looks on after defeating Angela Hill (not pictured) of the United States in their Women's Strawweight bout during UFC Fight Night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 16, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Claudia Gadelha was defeated by Yan Xiaonan but the Brazilian was looking at the positive side of things
Claudia Gadelha vs Yan Xiaonan could have been a fight for who gets to face UFC Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili in the future.
Gadelha was ranked #4 in the division and was coming off the back of two great wins. Xiaonan, for her part, was undefeated in her UFC career and had only lost one fight in her time in MMA.
The two certainly played a safe game early on as they tried to size each other up. Gadelha, however, was on the end of a great performance by Xiaonan, even if the result seemed a little too one sided.
The Chinese star got a unanimous decision win over her Brazilian rival. Gadelha seemed a little upset at the result and now moves to 18-5 in her career.
The 31-year-old, however, took this defeat in her stride and posted on Instagram that this was part of her “development” as a person.
She added that success doesn’t come without setbacks.
Xiaonan now moves to 13-1-1 in her MMA career and had spoken about having a speed advantage over Gadelha. She had hoped for a quick win over her rival but a three-round unanimous decision win isn’t a bad thing either.
Xiaonan, while speaking to Helen Yee, wanted a title shot if she won this fight, and it will be interesting to see if Dana White gives her that.
She looked impressive against one of the top stars in the promotion and she could give countrywoman Weili a run for her money.
This loss is a bit of a kick for Gadelha, who looked impressive in her previous two fights. However, she will come back stronger as she has after every setback in her carer.
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