This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Macau, we saw a homecoming for a former title challenger. China’s Yan Xiaonan (19-4) gets the opportunity to fight in front of her home country as she took on 10th ranked strawweight Tabatha “Baby Shark” Ricci (11-3).
Ricci entered the octagon on Saturday having gone 6-1 in her last seven fights. She was hoping that by defeating a former title challenger, she could vault right into title contention with a win. On the other side of things, Xiaonan was looking to bounce back from her championship loss earlier this year at UFC 300.
Xiaonan showed incredible heart and toughness back in April against Zhang Weili, but the champion proved to be too much. Xiaonan was looking to win soundly on Saturday to make the case that she should get another shot at the title. For Ricci to win, she was going to need to rely on pressure while not allowing Xiaonan to get off big shots.
That didn’t happen for her. Xiaonan was really sharp from the outside and she was able to land really clean shots throughout the three rounds. Ricci never gained a ton of momentum and when the cards were read at UFC Macau, it was obvious that the winner was Yan Xiaonan.
What’s next after UFC Macau?
Now, after Saturday, Xiaonan was calling for another title shot against Zhang Weili. She’s ranked near the very top of the division and she certainly has a case, but I think she’ll need to get one more win. Virna Jandiroba and Tatiana Suarez were supposed to fight next month and the winner was being positioned as the next strawweight title challenger.
After almost four years away, Suarez returned in a big way in 2023 with two dominant wins. However, the injury bug hit her again this year and both of her scheduled fights were cancelled due to injury. Honestly, I think the UFC is going to go ahead and give Jandiroba the next shot at the title given her four-fight win streak.
With that, I think the right move is to book Suarez if she can stay healthy against Xiaonan. Perhaps even on the same card with the winners facing off sometime around the summer or fall of 2025.