LAS VEGAS – After being passed up for a title shot, Yan Xiaonan plans on waiting for her opportunity.
Strawweight champion Zhang Weili (23-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) defends her title against Amanda Lemos (13-2-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the UFC 292 co-headliner on Aug. 19 at TD Garden in Boston.
Xiaonan (17-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who’s coming off a first-round TKO of former champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 288 in May, hoped she would be next in line for the belt. She sees Weili retaining her belt against Lemos, and will use this time to work on her game.
“(I’m) a little bit disappointed, but of course I hope I will be the next title contender,” Xiaonan told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter Thursday on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet. “But I can wait and let’s see what happens in the fight in August. On one side, I can wait for the result of Weili’s fight. On the other hand, I want to spend more time to improve myself, my skills to be a more well-rounded fighter.”
Former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will make her flyweight debut against Manon Fiorot on Sept. 3 in Paris. Xiaonan would have loved that fight at some point in her career, but is still hopeful it could happen.
“I think she may return back to strawweight someday; I hope we can have a fight,” Xiaonan said. “She is the one I want to fight the most, so I hope she will return to our division one day in the future.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.