Xiaonan
Yan admits that her upcoming opponent and compatriot, Weili
Zhang, continues to garner more support in their home country
of China.
Advertisement
Yan (18-3) will challenge Zhang (24-3|) for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweight championship in the
co-main event at UFC
300 on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Zhang
made her UFC debut almost a year after Yan in 2018, “Magnum” went
on to win the title within a year. Zhang also delivered some of the
most memorable title fights of all time, sealing her place in
women’s mixed martial arts history.
While China has seen its fair share of UFC stars over the years,
including the likes of Jingliang
Li and Yadong
Song, Zhang likely remains the torchbearer in the country.
Earlier, Yan had stated that she expects more haters than fans in
her homeland as Zhang continues to dominate the Chinese
fanbase.
“Nothing has really changed; still more people support Weili,” Yan
said at UFC 300 media day. “But I have my family, I have my team,
all the people, my people will support me, to me that’s
enough.”
However, while Yan admits that while winning certainly holds
considerable significance, capturing gold remains her prime goal.
“Yeah, both China vs. China and getting the UFC title are important
to me,” said Yan. “But if you let me choose which one is more
important – get the title.”
“Fury” is coming off consecutive wins topped off by a first-round
knockout over Jessica
Andrade at UFC
288 in May 2023. Meanwhile, Zhang is riding a three-fight
winning streak and is coming off a dominant title defense against
Amanda
Lemos, where she set the record for the biggest striking
differential in a female UFC bout.