Yan Xiaonan is ready to bounce back at UFC 272
Yan Xiaonan is looking at losing a little differently than before.
The UFC strawweight returns to the octagon against Marina Rodriguez at UFC 272 on March 5, following a second-round TKO loss to Carla Esparza back in May. The defeat marked Xiaonan’s first defeat in 10 years.
She remembers what it feels like to lose again after being perfect for over a decade.
“That is what I learned from my last fight, how to adjust myself from the loss,” Xiaonan said.
“The biggest change from now and my thinking right after a fight is that the loss of a fight is not that terrible. It’s a part of the game, so I can bounce back and win again.”
A much needed break for Yan Xiaonan
Close to 10 months will separate the time she last stepped into the octagon and when she stands across from Rodriguez inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Xiaonan took a much-needed break to her home country of China during that time.
The trip included spending time with family, but the fourth-ranked strawweight started to regroup there as well.
“I needed to adjust my mentality from the loss, so it took a little bit longer to give me a break and make me able to get back to training,” Xioanan said. “The only way is to keep training, harder and harder, to improve what you’re not good at.”
Dealing with pressure
Xioanan rebounded by earning 11-straight victories after the last time she suffered a loss.
Ironically enough, Rodriguez’s last defeat came at the hands of Esparza back in July 2020. The Brazilian rattled off three-straight wins since then, most recently defeating Mackenzie Dern by unanimous decision this past October.
Rodriguez is directly in front of Xioanan in the UFC 115 lbs. rankings, pegged at third.
The fear of losing is absent for Xioanan, but there are other types of anxiety that stem from entering the cage each time. It’s a different feeling for her, but she plans to get past it either way.
“It’s not a big difference because there is always pressure on your shoulder when you have a fight,” Xiaonan said. “My next fight, I have to win, so there’s another pressure. If you’re talking about the volume of pressure, it has not changed that much, just a different type of pressure.”
