Yan Xiaonan addresses her loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 300: “I was almost out”

Yan Xiaonan has issued a statement regarding her loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 300.

The historic UFC 300 saw Yan Xiaonan (18-4 MMA) get in the Octagon with current champion Zhang Weili (25-3 MMA) for the women’s stawweight belt. The result would be a unanimous decision victory for ‘Magnum’.

‘Fury’ entered the cage having won her last 2 fights in the Octagon, defeating Mackenzie Dern (13-5 MMA) and Jessica Andrade (26-12 MMA).

Weili came into UFC 300 having won all 3 of her last fights in the cage, defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-5 MMA), Carla Esparza (19-7 MMA) and Amanda Lemos (14-3 MMA).

It was during a recent appearance on ‘The MMA Hour’ with Ariel Helwani that Yan shared her disappointment in failing to attain victory at her first attempt at stawweight gold:

“She (Weili) took my back and got the rear-naked choke position very quickly. I still, at that moment, believed I could defend that. Then when she sweeped me, I was facing the roof of the arena and I could see the clock on the big screen. When I saw that there was 10 seconds left, I think, ‘Okay, I can go through this round.’ But at the last second, when the bell rang, I was almost out. Just like somebody almost knocked me out.”

Continuing, Yan Xiaonan said (h/t MMANews):

“But, I still recognized that I need to stand up immediately and try my best to walk to the corner to show that the fight could continue. Because my thumb got injured before the fight, when I grabbed her hands to defend, I also made a mistake that allowed her to get the rear-naked choke really tight.”

Weili, at 34, is now a two-time UFC women’s stawweight champion.

Were you watching UFC 300? What do you think of Ziaonan’s analysis of what happened in her bout with Weili? Who would you like to see ‘Fury’ fight next?

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