Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci UFC Macau Odds, Time, and Prediction

UFC Fight Night 248 is headlined by Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo, but there are plenty of other interesting matchups on the fight card. One that really stands out is the Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci Women’s Strawweight fight, which we’ll analyze in detail in this preview.

Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci Odds

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: Galaxy Arena in Macau, SAR, China
• Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
• Time: 3:00 a.m. ET
• How to Watch: ESPN+

First Step on Yan Xiaonan’s Road to the Title

Yan Xiaonan has 18 wins, four losses, and one no contest in her portfolio. One of those four defeats happened in her most recent game – she lost to fellow Chinese fighter Zhang Weili by decision in the fight for the UFC Women’s Strawweight title last April.

Everyone seemed to predict Weili was going to get the job easy, but Xiaonan put on a real fight that evening. The fight lasted for the full 25 minutes, and even though Xiaonan got hit 106 times, taken down six times, and had to defend against two submission attempts, she did not give up.

On the contrary, she fought back, even managing to knock Weili down once – this was only the second time the champ got knocked down in her entire UFC career.

All this shows that Xiaonan is a hell of a fighter, but Dana White & Co. will probably need more convincing before giving her another shot at the title. The thing is that she’s ranked second in the division, behind Tatiana Suarez. To leapfrog her – and get to fight Weili again – she needs to smash Tabatha Ricci on November 23. Can she pull it off?

Tabatha Ricci Wants Her Superb Run to Continue

Tabatha Ricci is 11-2 overall with her first loss happening on her UFC debut, in which Manon Fiorot beat her by a TKO. It was a women’s flyweight fight, but since then, she’s been fighting in her national weight class.

In the UFC Women’s Strawweight division, she’s 6-1, with her only loss happening against Loopy Godinez a year ago. The loss happened by a split decision.

When it comes to her wins, she beat some really formidable opponents, including Polyana Viana, Gillian Robertson, Tecia Pennington, and Angela Hill.

Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci Prediction

Our prediction for the UFC Macau co-main event is that this is going to be a real dogfight. It’s very likely that the fight will go the distance as both Xiaonan and Ricci are famous for being real warriors who never give up. In fact, neither has suffered a loss inside the distance since 2021.

We think the Xiaonan vs. Ricci fight will be decided by the judges, but who will they score for? It’s got to be Xiaonan. She’s bigger, tougher, and is fighting on her turf with Macau fans expected to provide her incredible support on Saturday.

Pick: Yan Xiaonan