Scouting Report: Xiaonan Yan

Lev PisarskySep 30, 2022

Xiaonan Yan

Born: June 16, 1989 (Age: 33) in Lianoning, China
Division: Women’s strawweight
Height: 5’5”
Reach: 63”
Record: 15-3 (6-2 UFC)
Association: Team Alpha Male
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Yan has shown exceptional progress in her early UFC fights, developing a highly effective and unique karate-based approach. It is predicated on excellent movement and stellar cardio, with her bouncing around endlessly and scoring with a solid jab and side kick, all while darting out of range when opponents attempt to connect. Her style is aimed at winning on the cards—she lacks power—but it is difficult to beat. She is fairly strong and solid in the clinch, as well, possessing some judo skills that allow her to land takedowns of her own. However, she rarely consolidates those takedowns with follow-up attacks, and she can find herself in serious trouble when put on her back by a capable grappler.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Well above average.
• Jab: It can be telegraphed, but she otherwise shows solid technique, speed and power—a rarity with her punches. Yan has been known to paw and reach with it at times.
• Cross: Mediocre when stacked up against some of her contemporaries. While technically competent, it lacks speed and power, and it is usually telegraphed, thus making it easy to counter.
• Left Hook: Does not throw it.
• Overhand Right: Does not throw it.
• Uppercuts: Throws a right uppercut with some accuracy and technique, but like many of her other punches, it lacks power.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Fires punches in bunches, but they are frequently wild, inaccurate and telegraphed.
• Favorite Combination(s): A series of straights, though they tend to miss after she throws the first one.
• Leg Kicks: Fast and precise but somewhat stiff and telegraphed. She could stand to use her hips more, but they do have an impact when she connects, and she often takes aim at the calves.
• Body Kicks: She throws a decent side kicks, and while it lacks power, it is fast, accurate and scores points in the eyes of the judges.
• Head kicks: Rarely throws them.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Yan has adopted a discipline and solid striking style, drawing her inspiration from karate. She lacks power and does not even throw a number of punches, but with her outstanding movement and capable defense, she can endlessly strike opponents with jabs and side kicks while avoiding return fire. This is a difficult conundrum for others to solve, as Yan continues to rack up points on the scorecards. Only the most skilled strikers can tag her.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Fair, considering she is big for the weight class.
• Technique: Swivels her hips well along the fence and calls on a judo base that has allowed her to secure takedowns, including hip tosses and harai goshis.
• Knees: Constantly throws knees to the body in the clinch. Activity is not an issue.
• Elbows: Does not throw them.
• Defense Against Knees and Elbows: Vulnerable to both when paired with a strong and skilled wrestler.

Yan does not like to engage in the clinch or in any other grappling situation, but she is decently strong there and has active knees that she throws at a high rate of fire. However, she has been vulnerable to knees and elbows against strong grapplers.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Makes no attempt to do so.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Carries some solid judo skills, as evidenced by her waistlock throw against Angela Hill. She also deftly countered a Karolina Kowalkiewicz clinch with a hip toss and later a harai goshi, then simply bullied her in close quarters until she landed an outside trip with double underhooks and hit her with a mat-return slam.
• Takedown Defense: Slightly above average. A good wrestler will definitely complete takedowns against her.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Limited. She tends to slowly butt scoots to the cage before slowly wall walking back up, affording plenty of opportunities to an opponent.
• Submissions: Non-existent.
• Defense and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: A double-edged sword. She often uses a tight closed full guard and fires short elbows in volume that can absolutely hurt the opponent. However, the approach leaves her vulnerable to ground-and-pound, the tool Carla Esparza used to stop her.
• Top Control: Poor to non-existent. She gets spooked at the prospect of being submitted, and any remotely competent attempt will result in her trying to stand up.
• Ground-and-Pound: Subpar from the top, where she inflicts little to no damage and often only offers the occasional weak punch.

While Yan has some grappling expertise of her own, it should be noted that she has almost nothing to offer in terms of ground-and-pound or submissions once she completes a takedown. Against elite wrestlers, her grappling becomes a definite liability. Yan struggles to get back to her fight when taken down, but from her back, she uses a unique approach of a closed full guard paired with short elbows. While that gives her a form of offense, it also leaves her open to punishment from the top—a hole Esparza fully exploited. Given her age and the progress she has already made in the UFC, it seems doubtful she will make any more meaningful improvements in this area.

INTANGIBLES

Athleticism and General Physical Strength: Decent in both departments.
Cardio: Can fight at an energetic pace with lots of movement without ever slowing down, even in five-round affairs.
Chin: She has absorbed some solid shots and managed to withstand them.
Recuperative Powers: Standard.
Intelligence: An extraordinarily disciplined fighter, she has made outstanding strides across multiple areas during her time in the UFC.