Following a particularly tough 2023, UFC bantamweight contender Adrian Yanez believes he’s in a ‘do or die’ situation, ahead of his May 18th fight against Vinicius Salvador.
Adrian Yanez, who sat contained in the top 15 of the bantamweight rankings last yr, suffered his first two UFC losses in what was a particularly tough yr for the 30-year-old.
On May 18th, Yanez takes on Vinicius Salvador on the UFC Apex, in what can be Salvador’s first UFC fight at bantamweight.
Adrian Yanez still had Rob Font loss playing in his head before his last outing
In April last yr, Yanez was matched up with highly ranked 135lber, Rob Font, as he looked to push towards the highest 10 of the division. Unfortunately for the Texan, he suffered his first loss within the UFC, and his first loss by knockout.
Six months later he was matched up with Jonathan Martinez, who was riding a five-fight win streak. Yanez went on to suffer his second loss in a row, falling out of the bantamweight rankings.
Ahead of his May 18th fight against Salvador, Yanez spoke exclusively to Bloody Elbow, discussing the mental struggles he faced following his first two UFC losses.
“I’m in a do or die situation in my head at once so I don’t need to need to worry about anything” Yanez commented in regard to creating his sixth appearance on the UFC APEX.
Yanez admitted that his loss to Martinez was harder to recover from due to the best way it happened, and since he had more time to take it in.
“That second (loss), the primary kick landed, and boom, f***** my whole leg up immediately, felt a complete shock in my leg and felt warm liquid, it felt like my leg was bleeding. I had loads more time to sit down back and soak in (the loss) because I needed to have surgery after that fight.
“It also gave me a change of perspective on lots of things. In my 2023 I got way too comfortable. I used to be comfortable within the position I used to be at, I had a rating next to my name and I used to be (too) comfortable. I began letting others control what I used to be doing in camp and I didn’t have full control.” Yanez admitted.
The 30-year-old admitted that before he walked out for his fight against ‘The Dragon’ he still had his loss to Font playing behind his head.
“The Martinez fight I assumed I used to be mentally good there, but walking out to the cage there was still remanence of that (Font) loss beforehand, after I was walking out it was still playing behind my head a bit.” Yanez opened up.
Training with Diego Lopes’ team reignited Yanez’s ‘love for the sport’
In preparation for his upcoming fight, Yanez spent a while training with Alexa Grasso and UFC featherweight, Diego Lopes, at Lobo Gym.
Yanez admitted that training around ‘like-minded’ people reignited his love for MMA. “It got me excited, like man, each time you’re around like-minded people like them that need to improve and all the time need to train, that put a fireplace beneath my ass and reignited my love for the sport.”
Vinicius Salvador being his next opponent got here as a surprise to Yanez who admitted he signed the contract without even knowing who he was fighting. Despite that, the 30-year-old is ‘excited’ in regards to the stylistic matchup as he believes Salvador will leave openings for him to take advantage of.
“To me, it was sort of out of left field. If I’m taking a look at the position, he’s in the back of the bus. I’m taking two losses but I only took two losses to 2 of one of the best within the division.
“I used to be expecting someone close within the rankings but again, I kept telling them I don’t give a f*** who you set in front of me, I just need to fight. I didn’t comprehend it was him they (UFC) were like ‘Hey you’ve got a fight’ so I said ‘Alright cool’ and went back to training.
“They began showing me who I used to be fighting and I used to be like ‘Oh okay’ because I’m not good with names. I’ve been doing all my due diligence because again, I’m not having one other 2023, my 2024 goes to be a press release. I’m going to go on the market and knock this motherf***** out.” Yanez explained.
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