Yan Xiaonan of China reacts before the women's strawweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event against Syuri Kondo of Japan punches in at Cadillac Arena on November 24, 2018 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images)
Yan Xiaonan had to train in Sacramento at Team Alpha Male but she learned a few tricks alongside Urijah Faber
Yan Xiaonan is set to face her toughest challenge since coming into the UFC as she takes on Claudia Gadelha.
The 31-year-old Chinese star has just one loss in her career and has won all of her UFC fights. However, Gadelha is ranked #4 in the Women’s Strawweight rankings and is coming off a couple of great wins.
Xiaonan was speaking to Helen Yee ahead of the fight and was asked about her training in Las Vegas. The Chinese star has had to shift her training camp several times due to Covid-19 but she didn’t find training in Vegas to be a problem:
“I am extremely happy because I’ve already trained in Las Vegas before. My first time competing here feels like I am returning home.”
Xiaonan trained in California also for the first time and she was asked about that:
“This time my training there was to prepare for my fight and Team Alpha Male in Sacramento was a very good fit for me because they have a lot of smaller sized fighters.”
She was pictured training alongside Urijah Faber and Song Yadong, and Yee asked her if she picked up something from the greats:
“I studied and learned a lot of new techniques from wrestling to jiu-jitsu. I felt everyone was so helpful to me.”
Xiaonan was confident of getting a win in the second round, and she believed her speed would give her an advantage in this clash.
The Chinese star also opened up on her future plans and wanted a title fight next. She said she would speak to Dana White after she won this clash, and it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Xiaonan also spoke about Zhang Weili defending the belt against Rose Namajunas. The Chinese star backed Weili to remain the Strawweight champion:
“I hope Zhang Weili will win the fight because we are from the same country but anything can happen in a fight.
“Hopefully, the fight will be an exciting one.”
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