Adrian Yanez (born November 29, 1993) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. As of December 6, 2022, he is #13 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.

Background

His father being a Golden Gloves winner, Yanez went into boxing from a young age, but later on took up BJJ. He started training MMA at the age of 15, having his first fight at the age of 17. Before the UFC, Yanez worked for the City of Deer Park as a Meter Reader. For most of his mixed martial arts career Yanez trained under late

Saul Soliz Saul Soliz (1965/1966 – August 17, 2021) was an American mixed martial arts trainer known as "the godfather of Texas MMA". Beginning in the 1990s, he helped establish the sport in Texas. After organizing informal cage matches for some time, ...

in Houston, TX.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After finishing a successful 6-0 amateur career with four consecutive TKO’s, Yanez made his professional debut at just 20 years old, and ended with Yanez victorious by TKO in the third round. Suffering his first defeat against Levi Mowles in his very next bout, having no answer for the wrestling and ground and pound, he lost via unanimous decision. The Texan recovered with two victories in Fury FC, and then won his Bellator debut at

Bellator 149 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickboxi ...

against Ryan Hollis via unanimous decision. Yanez then dropped a razor thin split decision to future UFC bantamweight Domingo Pilarte at LFA 7. Winning his next two bouts in the promotion, Yanez faced another current UFC fighter

Miles Johns Miles Xavier Johns (born March 30, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2011, he has also formerly competed for Legacy Fighting ...

for the vacant LFA Bantamweight Champion at LFA 55. With history repeating itself, Yanez was on the wrong end of a close split decision loss. With two stoppage wins over Warren Stewart and Michael Rodriguez and then winning a split decision against Kyle Estrada at LFA 78, Yanzes was invited to Dana White's Contender Series 28, where he defeated Brady Huang in 39 seconds , earning a UFC contract in the process.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Yanez was scheduled to make his UFC debut against Aaron Phillips on October 31, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Silva. However on October 20, Phillips pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. Instead, Yanez faced promotional newcomer Victor Rodriguez. Yanez won the bout via head kick knockout in the first round. This win earned him '' Performance Fight of the Night'' award. Yanez faced Gustavo Lopez on March 20, 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland. He won the fight via walkoff knockout in round three. This win earned him the''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. Yanez faced

Randy Costa Randy Costa (born July 6, 1994) is an American professional mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional since 2018, he most notably fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Costa began ...

at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw on July 24, 2021. After getting dominated in the first round, Yanez rallied back in the second round winning by technical knockout. This fight earned him the ''

'' award. As the first bout of his new four-fight contract, Yanez faced

Davey Grant David "Davey" Jeremy Grant (born 18 December 1985) is an English mixed martial artist. He was one of the cast members for TUF 18 The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate, UFC TV series program, and he competes in Bantamweight division o ...

on November 20, 2021 at

UFC Fight Night 198 ''UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN+ 56'', ''UFC Vegas 43'' and ''UFC Fight Night 198'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 20, 2021 at the UFC ...

. He won the bout via split decision, although 12 of 12 media scores gave it to Yanez. The bout earned both fighters the '' Fight of the Night ''award. Yanez faced Tony Kelley on June 18, 2022 at

UFC on ESPN 37 ''UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Emmett'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 37'' and ''UFC Austin'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 18, 2022 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, United ...

. At the weigh-ins on June 17, Kelley weighed in at 137.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds over the non-title bantamweight limit. As a result, the bout proceeded as a catchweight and Kelley forfeited 20% of his purse to Yanez. He won the bout in the first round via TKO stoppage. This win earned him his fourth

award. Yanez is scheduled to face

Rob Font Rob Font (born June 25, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Font formerly competed for CES M ...

on April 8, 2023 at

UFC Fight Night 222 ''UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 222'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 80'') is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on April 15, 2023, at the T-Mobile ...

Personal life

Yanez has a son (born 2021).

Championships and achievements

(Four times) ** Fight of the Night (One Time)

Mixed martial arts record

, Win , align=center, 16–3 , Tony Kelley , TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Emmett , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:49 ,

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

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Belton, Texas Belton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas on the Interstate 35 in Texas, Interstate 35 corridor between Austin, Texas, Austin and Waco, Texas, Waco. Belton is the county seat of Bell County, Texas, Bell County and is the fifth largest city in t ...

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Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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Humble, Texas Humble ( ) is a city located in the Houston metropolitan area. Humble became an oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing oilfield in Texas. Humble ...

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Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Levi Mowles , Decision (unanimous) , Legacy FC 37 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Richard Delfin , TKO (punches) , Texas City Throwdown , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:28 ,

Texas City, Texas Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and pe ...

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanez, Adrian 1993 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from La Porte, Texas Mixed martial artists from Texas