The UFC’s women’s strawweight division is getting active, and a high stakes fight between two contenders is reportedly scheduled for March. The management team for Yan Xiaonan took to social media on Wednesday and announced that Xiaonan who is the fourth-ranked contender in the division, will face Marina Rodriguez, the third-ranked contender, at UFC 272 on March 5.
It’s official. Yan Xiaonan will take on Marina Rodriguez in a strawweight bout at UFC 272 in Las Vegas on March 5. ✨ #UFC272 #GP pic.twitter.com/TXhyrleF2f
— Paradigm Sports (@ParadigmSports) December 29, 2021
A matchup between Rodriguez and Xiaonan should be considered a title eliminator, with UFC President Dana White announcing that champion Rose Namajunas will face Carla Esparza in her next title defense, although there has been no scheduled date for the fight. An alum of Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2018, Marina Rodriguez has only suffered one loss in her UFC tenure, a split decision to Esparza back in 2020. Rodriguez also fought to two separate draws in her career, against Cynthia Calvillo and Randa Markos.
Since suffering her loss to Esparaza, Rodriguez has gone on to compile a three-fight winning streak picking up wins over Amanda Ribas, Michelle Waterson, and Mackenzie Dern, the last two coming as main events.
Yan Xiaonan has also only suffered one loss in her UFC tenure, that coming in her last fight against Esparza back in May. Before the loss, Xiaonan has picked up her most notable wins over the likes of Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Angela Hill among others. With both Xiaonan and Rodriguez having only lost to Esparza who will next compete for a title, their respective resumes line up for the winner of this bout to likely be the next strawweight title challenger.
Although the fight has yet to be announced by the UFC, it is set for UFC 272 which does not have an announced main event as of now, but has had several fights reportedly set for the card. Here is how the UFC 272 card currently shapes up, not including Rodriguez vs Xiaonan.
- Thiago Santos vs Magomed Ankalev
- Marlon Moraes vs Yadong Song
- Bruno Silva vs Alex Pereira
- Guido Cannetti vs Kris Moutinho
- Trevin Jones vs Javid Basharat
- Cody Brundage vs Daicha Lungiambula
- Damon Jackson vs Joshua Culibao
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