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Yan Xiaonan believes she defeated Marina Rodriguez at UFC 272: “I won that fight”
UFC women’s strawweight contender Yan Xiaonan believes that she defeated Marina Rodriguez at UFC 272, saying that “I won that fight.”
Xiaonan entered her fight against Rodriguez as a sizeable underdog, but she fought competitively for the full 15 minutes and made the fight very interesting on the judges’ scorecards. The first round was all Xiaonan, and the third round was all Rodriguez, so the fight ultimately came down to the second round and how it was scored. While many fans and media felt that Xiaonan did enough to win the second round, two of the three judges sided with Rodriguez in that round, and the Brazilian would win a split decision.
Xiaonan, however, disagrees with the judges’ decision. Speaking to John Hyon Ko of TheAllStar, Xiaonan explained why she felt she did enough to defeat Rodriguez in their women’s strawweight bout at UFC 272.
“I rewatched the fight [with my team] immediately when I arrived [back at] the athlete’s hotel with my coaches with my team….all of us firmly believe I won the first two rounds. And the third round we can give her the third round but still pretty close so I feel I won that fight,” Xiaonan said.
The fight was certainly close, and the second round especially was competitive. According to the official UFC stats, both women each landed 14 significant strikes in the second round. Xiaonan also had a takedown and over a minute of control time. In the end, however, the judges favored Rodriguez instead.
For Xiaonan, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Instead of potentially fighting for the belt next had she defeated Rodriguez, she has now lost two straight fights, with a TKO defeat to Carla Esparza her last time out. She is now 6-2 overall in the Octagon and it will be interesting to see who she gets paired up with next.
Do you agree with Yan Xiaonan that she deserved to win the decision over Marina Rodriguez at UFC 272?
