Wu Yanan will return at UFC Fight Night 206 and she has switched camp in a bid to get her career back on track. The Chinese bantamweight has moved to Jackson Wink MMA as she looks to rebound from back to back defeats,
“My camp for my last fight was at Team Oyama. This time, I’m actually training at Jackson Wink MMA,” she told MMA Mania.
She is fighting for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury and chose to prepare for her bout with Mayra Bueno Silva in Albuquerque,
“I only came to Vegas for the knee rehab at the UFC P.I. So the reason why is to learn from different gyms, experience different cultures, and I have a coach who has taught me before in China at Jackson Wink so that’s why this time I’m choosing Jackson Wink for my fight camp.”
Wu is joined at Jackson Wink by a former opponent. ONE Championship atomweight Meng Bo is also training there,
“We’ve known each other since we were teenagers. For a very long time we’ve been closest friends, so we came to the US together and trained together. I’m very happy Meng Bo is with me. If I come here alone it’s hard. I miss Chinese New Year and I’m homesick,” she said.
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Submission win
Wu’s only win in the octagon so far came via first round submission against Lauren Mueller at UFC Fight Night 141 in 2018. Despite this she believes her grappling to be a weakness,
“Of course, I felt very happy and excited about this win. I lost my UFC debut in Shanghai and I am a striker so jiu-jitsu is kind of my weakness, so in my second fight, I won over my opponent by submission, that made me very, very excited.”
The UFC is known to be ruthless with fighters on a string of losses. The pressure will be on Wu to carve out a victory. If she fails her spot on the roster could be in doubt.
It is a fate she is desperate to avoid and Wu hopes the training at Jackson Win will make her more well rounded,
“We are MMA fighters, we need to be able to do everything, striking, grappling. Our goal is definitely to win the fight so I will win the fight by any manner, striking or grappling.”
