UFC 314 goes down on April 12th from Miami, Florida and the card is starting to take shape. Last night, AG Fight was the first to report that a potential title eliminator in the strawweight division is being targeted for that card as former title challenger Yan Xiaonan (19-4) will take on surging top contender Virna Jandiroba (21-3).
Starting with Jandiroba, she was supposed to face Tatiana Suarez in December in what was being looked at as a title eliminator. However, Suarez suffered a minor injury and the fight was called off. Suarez wouldn’t take long to recover but instead of rebooking the fight, the UFC gave Suarez a title shot and now Jandiroba is getting another title eliminator.
Jandiroba was 14-0 and was the Invicta strawweight champion when she made her octagon debut. She lost her debut to Carla Esparza and went just 3-3 in her first six fights. However, since then, she’s won four fights in a row including a second round submission over former title challenger Amanda Lemos to earn this fight against Yan.
UFC 314
At UFC 300 last April, Yan Xiaonan got the opportunity of a lifetime in facing fellow Chinese fighter and current strawweight champion Zhang Weili. It was a historic fight because it was the first time that two Chinese fighters fought for a UFC world title.
Yan showed incredible toughness, but the champion was too much. Yan returned with the promotion made it’s way to Macau back in November. She looked incredible in that fight and largely dominated the tough and durable Tabatha Ricci over the course of three rounds.
Yan really wants to get back to another title shot and this is her way to do it. If she’s able to stop the run that Jandiroba is on, she’ll likely be fighting for the strawweight title later this year.