Adrian Yanez has been chomping at the bit to return after his first octagon loss.
Yanez (16-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was stopped by first-round TKO against Rob Font at UFC 287 in April. It was a tough pill to swallow for the red hot bantamweight prospect, but Yanez is ready to climb his way back up.
Prior to the Font loss, Yanez was on a nine-fight winning streak with seven finishes.
“I’ve been hammering for a fight for a month already,” Yanez told MMA Junkie Radio. “Once I got cleared by the doctor, I immediately got off the phone with the doctor, got on the phone with my manager Jason, and I was like, ‘Hey, what’s up? What are we doing? What’s next?’ and trying to get something going.
“I know for the longest time, the division was kind of being held up with what Henry (Cejudo) was going to do. Is Henry going to fight (Marlon) ‘Chito’ (Vera)? Is he going to fight Merab (Dvalishvili)? And I think that was up in the air for like a month. I was sitting back trying to wait like, ‘Hey what am I going to do? I’m not up there, I’m back here. What am I doing?'”
Yanez is OK fighting backward in the rankings, just as long as it’s someone with momentum. He’s hoping to compete on the UFC’s rumored Mexican Independence Day card Sept. 16, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.
“I’ll fight somebody just outside the top 15 who deserves to be in the top 15 if nobody in my general area (of the rankings) is trying to get matched up,” Yanez said. “I don’t mind fighting. I just want to start getting active because I’ve only fought once in a year, and I don’t like that feeling.
“I want to fight again. I want to get really active. The last I heard, Sept. 16 might be a date, but I told them it’s either Sept. 16 or before. I’m already training. I’m already looking to get back in there, so hopefully I hear some news soon.”
