Former UFC champion Jessica Andrade is set to fight Yan Xiaonan at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J.
Jessica Andrade could soon find herself back in the strawweight title hunt. Sources have confirmed that the former UFC champion is set to fight Yan Xiaonan (16-3, 1 NC) at UFC 288. The event is scheduled for May 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The match was first reported by Eurosport.
Andrade (24-10), a former titleholder at 115 pounds, has competed in both strawweight and flyweight divisions over the past few years. She is currently ranked in the top 5 of both divisions in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. However, Andrade’s most recent fight resulted in a second-round submission loss to Erin Blanchfield, snapping her three-fight win streak. On the other hand, Yan managed to stop a two-fight losing streak with a majority decision win over Mackenzie Dern in the main event of a UFC APEX card this past October. Yan has a 7-2 record in the UFC, with notable wins over Dern, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Angela Hill.
UFC 288 is set to be headlined by a bantamweight title fight featuring champion Aljamain Sterling and former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. The event promises to be packed with action and could potentially alter the strawweight title landscape, depending on the results of the Andrade vs. Yan matchup.