Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan headlines UFC Fight Night card on October 1
An important women’s strawweight bout between top contenders Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan headlines the UFC Fight Night card on October 1.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported that Dern vs. Xiaonan will be the headliners for a UFC Fight Night card set for October 1. The location and venue for this card are still to be determined.
UFC Fight Night on Oct. 1 has a main event. Mackenzie Dern (@MackenzieDern) vs. Xiaonan Yan will headline the event at location TBD, per multiple sources. Nos. 4 and 5 in division respectively. pic.twitter.com/hqp0VcoHTw
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 8, 2022
UFC Fight Night on Oct. 1 has a main event. Mackenzie Dern ( @MackenzieDern ) vs. Xiaonan Yan will headline the event at location TBD, per multiple sources. Nos. 4 and 5 in division respectively.
Dern (12-2) is the No. 4 ranked women’s strawweight in the UFC. The 29-year-old American joined the UFC in 2018 and since then she has racked up an impressive record of 7-2 inside the Octagon. In her last fight, Dern was able to win a split decision over Tecia Torres for one of the biggest wins of her career to date. She was able to bounce back from a decision loss to Marina Rodriguez with the win over Dern, and now she will look to build on a winning streak and get back into title contention in a division where there are lots of contenders. Dern has won five of her last six fights overall and if she is able to get past Xiaonan in this spot, she should be in line to fight someone in the top three at 115lbs.
Xiaonan (15-3, 1 NC) is the No. 5 ranked women’s strawweight. The 33-year-old China native joined the UFC in 2017 and won her first six fights in a row before dropping her last two bouts to Carla Esparza, the current champ, and the aforementioned Rodriguez. In fact, many media members and fans thought Xiaonan did enough to edge out Rodriguez, but the judges did not give her the split decision nod. She will now look to get back into the win column when she takes on the talented Dern.
Who do you think wins between Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan?
