Adrian Yañez (born November 29, 1993) is an American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who currently competes in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. 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 ...

division of the

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

(UFC).

Background

Adrian Yañez was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and grew up in

La Porte, Texas La Porte ( ) is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States, within the Bay Area of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 35,124. La Porte is the fourth-largest incorporated ...

. His father being a

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

winner, Yañez 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, Yañez worked for the City of Deer Park as a Meter Reader. For most of his mixed martial arts career Yañez 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, Yañez made his professional debut at just 20 years old, and ended with Yañez 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 Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

debut at Bellator 149 against Ryan Hollis via unanimous decision. Yañez then dropped a razor thin split decision to future UFC bantamweight Domingo Pilarte at LFA 7. Winning his next two bouts in the promotion, Yañez 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 since 2014, he has also formerly competed for Legacy Fighting Alliance whe ...

for the vacant LFA Bantamweight Champion at LFA 55. With history repeating itself, Yañez 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, Yañez 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

Yañez 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, Yañez faced promotional newcomer Victor Rodriguez. Yañez won the bout via head kick knockout in the first round. This win earned him '' Performance Fight of the Night'' award. Yañez 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'' award. Yañez faced

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

at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw on July 24, 2021. After getting dominated in the first round, Yañez rallied back in the second round winning by technical knockout. This fight earned him the '' Performance of the Night'' award. As the first bout of his new four-fight contract, Yañez faced

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

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 A ...

. He won the bout via split decision, although 12 of 12 media scores gave it to Yañez. The bout earned both fighters the '' Fight of the Night ''award. Yañez faced Tony Kelley on June 18, 2022, at UFC on ESPN 37. 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 Yañez. He won the bout in the first round via TKO stoppage. This win earned him his fourth Performance of the Night award. Yañez faced

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

on April 8, 2023, at UFC 287 He lost the bout via TKO in the first round. Yañez faced

Jonathan Martinez Jonathan Martinez (born April 20, 1994) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Martinez currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Martinez from a Salvadoran mother and Mexi ...

on October 14, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 230. After being dropped twice with leg kicks, Yañez lost the fight via TKO in round two. Yañez faced Vinicius Salvador on May 18, 2024, at UFC Fight Night 241. He won the bout by technical knockout from punches in the first round. Replacing

Said Nurmagomedov Said Makhachevich Nurmagomedov (; born April 5, 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2009, he formerly competed ...

who withdrew for unknown reasons, Yañez faced Daniel Marcos on December 14, 2024 at

UFC on ESPN 63 ''UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckley'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 63'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2024, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, United States. B ...

. Yanez lost the fight by split decision.

Personal life

Yañez has a son (born 2021).

Championships and achievements

** Performance of the Night (Four times) ** Fight of the Night (One Time) **UFC.com Awards ***2022: Ranked #9 Knockout of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

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Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 17–5 , Vinicius Salvador , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Murphy , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:47 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, United States , , - , 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Kyle Estrada , Decision (split) , LFA 78 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Belton, Texas Belton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Belton is the county seat of Bell County, Texas, Bell County and is the fifth largest city in the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood metropolitan area, Killeen-Temple metropolitan area. In 2020, the popu ...

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Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3 , Warren Stewart , TKO (punches) , Fury FC 29 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:46 ,

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

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Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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Texas City, Texas Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, United States, on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay. Texas City is a deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and petrochemical-manufacturing center. The popu ...

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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 Mixed martial artists from Texas 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 21st-century American sportsmen