For UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez, 2022’s only hiccup was that he wasn’t able to be as busy as he would have liked.
After having had three fights in 2021, Yanez had only a single bout in 2022, making it his lowest activity year to date amongst nearly a decade as a pro.
“My 2022 for myself went as expected, but not in activity,” Yanez told MMAWeekly.com. “I expected myself to be a lot more active than what I was, but with the big performance and the big stage in UFC Austin (in June) kind of propelled me into the rankings and is exactly where I wanted to be at, but the activity level I was pretty disappointed in.
“It all panned out perfectly. I’m ranked and new blood coming in, and it’s good. It was an overall great year, but that not being active made it from an A+ into an A.”
One area of 2022 that did end up being exceptional for Yanez was his training, as he was able to get proper coaching last year for the first time in many months.
“Last year I was able to improve in all aspects, and also I was able to gain a lot of coaches,” said Yanez. “I gained an MMA coach in Yves Edwards, a striking coach in Michael Chase Corley, and my strength and conditioning coach, Coach Phil.
“Last year was kind of like everything started to land. Now development-wise I feel I’m coming into my own and am getting better in every aspect, not just the striking or grappling. I’ve leveled up ever since I got coaches to help with my training and help fix any holes that I had.”
On April 8 in Miami, Florida, Yanez (16-3) will look to run his current winning streak into double digits when he takes on Rob Font (19-6) in a 135-pound main card bout at UFC 287.
It’s like when your idols turn into your rivals because (Font) was making his UFC debut when I was making my pro debut,” Yanez said. “I kind of always had admiration for Rob and how he fights; he goes out to finish guys; he goes out striking. I loved watching him fight.
“For me I’ve just go to in there and stick to what brought me to the game – use my striking to get the finish. I feel I can get him out of there as long as I keep touching him; be patient and not go out there overly excited and chase for something that’s not going to be there; so be patient and it will open and I will get the finish.”
Being in one of the most loaded divisions in MMA, Yanez knows he’s got to take one things at a time rather than look at all the possibilities ahead of him at bantamweight in 2023. “If I get overly happy and start looking down the line you end up not getting there because you start forgetting about the people they have in front of you,” said Yanez. “All my focus is on Rob and then take it one fight at a time.”