Yan Xiaonan is one of the only two ranked Chinese female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She currently ranks 10th under the dominance of UFC women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili and, next month at UFC 253, Yan will face Claudia Gadelha from Brazil, with a victory likely to earn her a championship ticket.

To earn her #10 position, the 31-year-old beat Poland's Karolina Kowalkiewicz by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night Auckland on February 23 this year.

Yan's half-year-older opponent Gadelha comes into the fight on a shorter break, having just won her last fight against Angela Hill by split decision on May 16 at UFC Fight Night in Jacksonville, Florida.

'Zhang didn't submit Jedrzejczyk, and I want to achieve that'

Yan Xiaonan was the first female Chinese fighter to enter the Octagon. She signed a four-match contact with the UFC and had her first fight on November 25, 2017 at Fight Night Shanghai, eight months before current women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili.

During the past four years, Yan has bagged five unanimous decision wins over Kailin Curran, Viviane Pereira, Syuri Kondo, Angela Hill, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz; Zhang also has five wins in this time, but with two submissions and one split decision. 

Yan's current record is significantly slimmer than that of Zhang, however. Yan is currently on 12-1 with one no contest, while Zhang is 21-1 and undefeated in her last 20. Both of them have a knock out (KO) rate of around 45 percent, but Yan's style has been more focused on striking in recent years.

If Yan wins this fight, she would be a championship contender and could take part in the first UFC "China Derby" with Zhang.

When asked about whom she'd like to fight the most, Yan said it's Joanna Jedrzejczyk: "Zhang Weili didn't submit her, and I want to achieve that."

The fight between Zhang and Joanna is already considered the best female fight in MMA history by many. Zhang won a split decision after five fierce rounds against Joanna and, ever since that incredible victory, Zhang has become a superstar in China. 

Zhang and Yan both have sanda backgrounds, but when asked about their difference, Yan showed a smile and said, "Zhang's figure is more like Gadelha, and I'm taller."

"For Zhang's next fight, which is probably to be made with Rose Namajunas, I think Zhang will win as Rose is not as strong as Jedrzejczyk. And if I win my fight with Gadelha, I think the China Derby will happen soon," Yan said when asked about what she expects from her future.

Zhang is already an active champion, but she can't rest on her laurels with another Chinese contender rising through the ranks. Yan said, "I'm well prepared any time, but only if Dana White gives me an opportunity."

'Gadelha is a BJJ black belt, I'm striking level 10'

Yan Xiaonan passed a 14-day quarantine after coming back from Auckland and has trained consistently since. About the fight against Gadelha, she feels very confident, "I met her twice when I was training in Las Vegas, and I've also watched many videos of her fights. I know her very well." 

"My Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) coach is from Brazil, and he'd always like me to fight against her, so, we're preparing everything well, especially the strategy that my BJJ coach set for me," Yan added.

Yan's coach Ruy Menezes is one of the first generation of BJJ practitioners in China. He got a black belt from the Gracie Family in 2002 and came to China for the first time in the following year. Ruy began to teach Jiu-Jitsu in Beijing in 2009, and he trained China's first UFC fighter Zhang Tiequan, as well as Li Jiangliang, Yan Xiaonan, and many other mixed martial artists.

But due to the pandemic of COVID-19, he has been staying in Brazil and may not go to the UFC 253 to be the cornerman for Yan.

"Recently, my conditioning coach has trained me a lot on my explosive power and one-punch KO ability, but my head coach told me the most important thing is to win the whole match," Yan said.

"Gadelha is BJJ black belt, much higher than me, and she will definitely try to drag me to the canvas since the very beginning, but people said my standing skills are 'level 10'," the former professional sanda athlete said with a laugh.

"Gadelha has very good stamina and defence, she'd never been submitted, even after facing Jedrzejczyk twice. For this fight, I'll still focus on the entirety of match, as well try to find a KO opportunity, I believe I can do it."

'Usually I'm quiet, but "Fury" in the Octagon'

Yan said she's very excited about having the chance to fight a top-10 fighter but also worried about her team's safety due to traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The host venue for the fight has not been decided yet but probably in the Fight Island, but her team was asked to go to the United States next week, then go to Abu Dhabi from there by UFC private flight. They won't quarantine in the U.S.

"The condition out of China is worse than here, but professional sports are like this, athletes cannot take long rests, and my life has to go ahead," Yan said in a matter-of-fact way.

Compared with Zhang, Yan is much less outgoing. She speaks simply, but that doesn't mean she isn't confident: "Every athlete trains to become the champion, if I don't want to be the champion, I wouldn't be an athlete."

At the end of the interview, Yan was asked which of her nicknames she likes the most, and she said it's "Fury" and explained, "Usually, I'm quiet and do not like speak, but when I get into training and stand in the Octagon, I'm crazy, like being injected with chicken blood (Chinese proverb about getting invigorated). I just love the stage!"