UFC: Yan Xiaonan and the fists of Fury take another step towards a strawweight title shot
- China’s ‘Fury’ lights up UFC Vegas 13 with power display in win over Brazil’s Claudia Gadelha
- ‘I never gave up, I said I have to win this fight, so I did it,’ says Yan, who should now move to top 5 ranking
China’s Yan “Fury” Xiaonan came to Las Vegas declaring it was high time she was taken seriously as a strawweight title contender. She showed again on Sunday that she’s as serious as they come.
The Chinese fighter fought off Brazilian Claudia Gadelha’s early grappling, found her range and went to work with a relentless stream of punches to take their clash at UFC Vegas 13 via unanimous decision (all 29-28s on the cards).
That makes it 6-0 in the UFC for the 31-year-old (13-1) and it was by far the biggest win of that half-dozen so far. The scream she let out showed just how much this means now, and ahead.
“I wanted to show everything I have,” said the 31-year-old in her post-fight interview. “This time I was more conservative and followed everything the coaches told me. This was a different fight. Even though I got taken down twice in the first round, I never gave up. I said, I have to win this fight, so I did it.”
Yan has been working her way into title contention ever since becoming the first Chinese woman to sign with the UFC, back in 2017. There were five straight wins coming into Sunday – all after going the distance, and reflecting Yan’s continued growth as an all-round fighter.