Adrian Yanez hopes he can fight at UFC 262 to make childhood dream come true, calls out Davey Grant

By Cole Shelton - March 26, 2021

Adrian Yanez has put the bantamweight division on notice.

Adrian Yanez

Yanez entered his UFC Vegas 22 fight against Gustavo Lopez coming off a highlight reel KO in his UFC debut. The goal for Yanez was to get another viral KO, which he did, but it also came in the third round, which was a bonus for the surging contender.

“I personally wanted some more cage time so it was good to get to the third round. I was relaxed in there, cardio was good,” Yanez said to BJPENN.com. “It was a test to see how in shape I really am. It was also good because there were so many doubters saying what happens if I get out of the first round, and is my power still there after the first.”

When Yanez landed the punch, he knew the fight was over and immediately walked off. For Yanez, he says he knew Lopez was out and didn’t want to cause any unnecessary damage to him.

“When I landed it, I knew it was over. I saw the ref stepping in and the walk-off KO was even cooler,” Yanez said. “I saw him fall and his head bounced off the canvas. As a fighter, I knew there was no reason for me to follow up and cause more damage to him.”

Since the fight, Adrian Yanez says his phone has been blowing up with new fans anticipating his next fight. However, what comes with that is the expectation he will have these highlight-reel KO’s every time he fights. Yet, the Texan doesn’t care about that. He also isn’t paying any attention to any of the hype surrounding him.

“I don’t put any pressure on myself. I know people are expecting these first-round knockouts or highlight-reel KO’s but that is all from social media and I don’t pay attention to that,” Yanez explained. “Even before the fight, Gustavo Lopez and a lot of fans were talking about how I am all hype, but the hype is just caused by social media and you take social media the hype is gone. But, I’d still be there because I know I’m a good fighter.”

After the win, Adrian Yanez knew he was going to call his shot of being on UFC 262 in Houston, Texas. When he first started martial arts as a kid, he drove past the Toyota Center with his dad and promised him he would fight there one day.

Ever since that moment, Yanez has kept that in mind and believes it is very likely he will fight on that card and hopes Davey Grant is standing across from him.

“I would really like to be on that May 15 card in Houston. I didn’t know Nate Maness was booked so I’d like to fight Davey Grant. He has two good KO’s and that would be a really good fight,” Yanez concluded. “To me, it is more just about fighting on the card. I grew up dreaming about fighting at the Toyota Center, every time my dad took me to train, we saw it on the Highway and I promised him I would fight there one day. It would be a dream come true to make that happen and fight in front of my hometown crowd.”

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