Yan Xiaonan tests skills against Marina Rodriguez at UFC 272. This bout transpires at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 5th.
The title eliminator implications around this bout with Rodriguez are obvious to many and this includes Yan herself.
“I feel so excited,” Yan told The AllStar. “Because last fight, I was unable to grab the opportunity to challenge the belt. I was unable to win that fight. So now this time, UFC give me another opportunity to fight Marina Rodriguez. So who win this fight is one more step closer to the belt.”
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is readying for a return to the cage and this is a fight that Yan has on her radar at some point.
“I thought about her but just anyone whose ranking is higher than me, I’d love to fight. But to be real, I don’t think Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) wants to fight me. She might want to fight a bigger name than me. But I want to fight her, for sure.”
Yan sees a lot in Rodriguez’s style of fighting and expects a well-rounded skillset across the cage from her on fight night.
“She’s a good fighter. She is a very rangy, tall, lean fighter. Very good striker. Also good on Jiu-Jitsu. Well rounded fighter, tough opponent.”
The Team Alpha Male training has been invaluable for Yan and speaks quite highly of her skill-sharpening efforts there.
“So I think Team Alpha Male is my favorite place for training outside China. Besides my own team CTT. So yeah, all of the coaches there especially Urijah Faber and Marcus my boxing coach. They all help me a lot and treat me very well. Alpha Male is my home in the US.”
“Nine” knows exactly what she’s getting into here and sees a lot of parity in her Rodriguez bout prediction.
“Probably a very close three-round fight. A very exciting, lots of punches and kicks exchanged in a three-round fight. May be very close.”
