The classic clash of styles between a striker and grappler told the story of the UFC Fight Night 211 main event.
Yan Xiaonan was able to show her striking skills while stifling the aggressive grappling and submission threat of Mackenzie Dern, leading to a majority decision after 25 minutes of action.
When the dust settled, Yan (15-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) did enough to convince two of the three judges she was the winner of the bout with two scores of 48-47, while a third judge thought Dern (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) rallied hard enough in the final frame to make the fight a draw.
The women’s strawweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 211 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Punches and kicks were traded frequently at the beginning of the first round. Dern offered punches upstairs while Yan mixed up her attack with kicks to the legs. Midway through the round, Dern got in on a single leg against the fence, but Yan displayed solid takedown defense to keep the fight standing. While the second Dern takedown attempt was also stopped, the third saw the fighters go to the ground. However, Yan reversed and ended up on top, and landed a few punches before the round ended.
After a few striking exchanges to start the second, Dern sold out for Yan’s legs, and scooted across the mat until she was able to bring her down to attack submissions. A slick transition from the BJJ ace saw Dern lock in an omoplata, which transitioned to an arm triangle. Yan was able to escape both attempts, but Dern ended up in full mount, where she began raining down punches.
Yan landed solid strikes to begin the third, but her momentum was halted when Dern locked up an arm and pulled her down into guard. They returned to their feet a seconds later, and continued trading hard strikes. A hard left hand wobbled Dern, but Yan was unable to capitalize on the moment. Yan continued to land sharply from distance, but Dern was able to complete a takedown in the closing seconds of the round.
A Dern single-leg attempt was turned away by Yan early in the fourth. Working behind a sharp left jab, Yan kept Dern at distance, and unloaded combinations when she tried to close the range. The kicks from Yan resurfaced as well. Dern was able to pull guard from a takedown attempt, and although she was able to get an armbar attempt in, there was not enough time on the clock.
Dern came out aggressive and got Yan to the mat just 30 seconds into the round. Armbar threats mixed with punches from full mount put Yan in a world of trouble with a lot of time on the clock. Yan gave up her back, but Dern continued to hunt for submissions while landing punches. Dern went for an armbar, but Yan escaped and the fighters traded punches on the ground until the horn.
DERN ALMOST HAD THE ARMBAR 😲 #UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/WUZiTnvWwr
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 2, 2022
Two of the judges saw the fight in Yan’s favor, while another saw the bout as a draw.
The strawweight division has a new contender on it's hands, and her name is Xiaonan Yan 💪 #UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/04V3vRRS3v
— UFC (@ufc) October 2, 2022
Yan gets back in the win column, putting an end to a two-fight skid. The No. 9 ranked strawweight in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie strawweight rankings entered on the heels of a pair of setbacks against Carla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez. Prior to her skid, however, Yan won her first six appearances under the UFC banner.
Dern entered on the heels of a split decision win over Tecia Torres at UFC 273 in April. Trading wins and losses over her last four outings, a loss to Marina Rodriguez stopped Dern’s four-fight win streak that included three first-round submission wins.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC Fight Night 211 include:
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Randy Brown def. Francisco Trinaldo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Raoni Barcelos def. Trevin Jones via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sodiq Yusuff def. Don Shainis via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:30
- Mike Davis def. Viacheslav Borshchev via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-26)
- Daniel Santos def. John Castaneda via TKO (knee, punches) – Round 2, 4:28
- Ilir Latifi def. Aleksei Oleinik via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joaquim Silva def. Jesse Ronson via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:08
- Brendan Allen def. Krzysztof Jotko via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:17
- Chelsea Chandler def. Julija Stoliarenko via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:15
- Guido Cannetti def. Randy Costa via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:04
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 211.
