UFC women’s strawweight veteran Yan Xiaonan issued a statement following her brutal KO loss to Denise Gomes at UFC Shanghai.
Despite entering her UFC Shanghai co-main event fight against Gomes as the betting favorite, Yan was shockingly knocked out on her home turf with a stunning step-in elbow by the Brazilian Gomes that was one of the most violent women’s MMA knockouts in quite some time.
It was a tough loss for the 37-year-old Yan, who has now lost two straight fights and three of her last four overall.
Yan Xiaonan Reacts to KO Loss
Taking to her social media following her defeat to Gomes, Yan issued a statement about her latest loss.
“Not the result I wanted. No excuses. I accept the loss. Thank you to my team and everyone who supports me. Time to rest, reset, and rebuild. I’ll be back,” Yan wrote on her Instagram.
What’s Next for Yan Xiaonan?
This was a really tough loss for Yan, who was given a home-country matchup against a fellow striker and yet lost devastatingly when she was brutally knocked out cold with an elbow.
Yan entered the fight as the No. 4-ranked women’s strawweight fighter according to the Meta UFC rankings, with Gomes as the No. 9-ranked fighter at 115 lbs, so this loss will surely hurt her in the rankings, as she will drop a couple of places in the rankings.
At age 37, it’s fair to question whether Yan can make another run for the title at her age, given her poor form in her recent fights.
Most likely, we have already seen the peak of Yan’s MMA career, which included her fighting then-UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang in the co-main event of the historic UFC 300 card in April 2024 for the belt.
She lost that fight, but bounced back nicely in her next outing when she defeated Tabatha Ricci. But she has since lost two straight fights to Virna Jandiroba and now to Gomes.
Since joining the UFC in 2017, Yan has a 9-4 record in the promotion, with a notable majority decision win over current champion Mackenzie Dern in 2022.