Athletes
A Tone Shift For Adrian Yanez
Texan Reflects On Obstacles Overcome Ahead Of His Upcoming Bout At UFC Tampa December 14
Adrian Yanez will be making his second UFC start of 2024 this weekend against unbeaten Daniel Marcos in Tampa.
Or is it his third? Because when he cornered UFC rookie Cameron Smotherman against Jake Hadley in October, it seemed like Yanez was right in the Octagon with his teammate.
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“In that corner, it wasn't just Cameron fighting,” Yanez admits. “I was there with him. I was there emotionally, as well as physically and spiritually and everything. It was just one of those moments.”
Now that we know that, it wasn’t surprising that Yanez was as happy as Smotherman was with the win, one that came on just a few days’ notice. It was a job that Yanez’ longtime coach, the late, great Saul Soliz, would have been proud of.
Yanez pauses to take that comment in.
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“It’s crazy, because my coach used to say this all the time before he passed away. Whenever he'd be talking about training camps and certain fighters, he'd always tell me and Cameron, ‘You're going to deal with the same stuff I deal with whenever you and Adrian have that crew.’ And now, I guess it's our crew. We deal with a lot of stuff, and we just sit back and we're like, ‘Damn, the old man was right.”
UFC Vegas 12: Adrian Yanez finds the KO in his Octagon debut
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UFC Vegas 12: Adrian Yanez finds the KO in his Octagon debut
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The bond between the two Texans was evident in Las Vegas, and it was clear that this wasn’t Yanez’ first rodeo. In fact, he was in the corner during Smotherman’s pro debut, so the duo, along with Raufeon Stotts, have a bond that goes beyond what takes place on fight night.
MORE: Take A Look Back At UFC's Last Event In Tampa
“All three of us are gym buddies, so we're seeing each other Monday through Friday, sometimes Saturday, and we go to fights together and we corner fights together,” said Yanez. “So it's intense for us. We feel like if one of us is fighting, we are all in that fight. So showing up for Cameron that day was a very intense moment for me just because I remember walking down to the cage for the first time when he was making his MMA debut. I was in his corner for his very first MMA fight. I was there for a lot of hardships that he had. And he's also been there for a lot of hardships.”
The loss of Soliz in 2021 was the toughest pill to swallow, and then there were the back-to-back losses to Rob Font and Jonathan Martinez in 2023 that sent Yanez’ rapid rise to a screeching halt. Yet now, at 31, the Houston product looks like he’s back to the form he showed in going 5-0 with four knockouts and five bonuses after earning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020.
That was evident in May as he halted Vinicius Salvador in less than three minutes, and now he’s got a chance to put a dent in Marcos’ loss column for the first time. That’s an attractive notion for Yanez, who stepped in for Said Nurmagomedov in this UFC Tampa bout.
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“I’ve been wanting to get more active and it's kind of been up and down, so I'm glad I'm able to get two in a year,” he said. “I was hoping for three, but I can do two. (Next year) I want to stay busy. I want to stay active just because the time period for this is very short. So I want to make the most of it. So with a good solid win over Marcos, hopefully it gets me a little bit more active.”
Adrian Yanez Knocks Out Gustavo Lopez In Round 3 | UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Holland
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Adrian Yanez Knocks Out Gustavo Lopez In Round 3 | UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Holland
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An active Adrian Yanez is a dangerous Adrian Yanez, and with his head and body right, he’s ready to make a run.
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“I count those losses and I look back at them and I just get angry at myself because I know I could have done better,” he said. “I wasn't doing all the right things. I got too comfortable, and right now I've been in this mode even before I went and walked into that fight in May, I had this different tone shift. And even until now, knowing I have a fight, knowing what I need to do, there's no comfortability here. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go out there and get a big win because I can't put myself back in that position that I was in. I got to go out there and I got to put on my best performance and take that guy's goose egg. I got to go out there and take his undefeated record. I have to go out there and put on a dominant performance so I can put myself back into the position where I was at before I took my losses.”
UFC Fight Night: Covington vs Buckley took place live from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on December 14, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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