Adrian Yanez Predicts ‘Easy’ Win to Rebound Against Vinicius Salvador

Having learned from two straight Ultimate Fighting Championship losses, Adrian Yanez believes he will walk away with a resounding win this weekend.

Yanez (16-5) kicked off his UFC journey with five consecutive wins, including four finishes, before suffering a first-round knockout loss to perennial contender Rob Font at UFC 287. Yanez went on to drop his next outing to Jonathan Martinez, succumbing to leg kicks at the midpoint of the second round. A torn meniscus following that bout sidelined him to his upcoming May appearance.

Looking back on his first career slump, Yanez revealed that the Font loss was still on his mind going into his clash against Martinez. While he initially thought he could get past that defeat, the first few leg kicks from Martinez sent him spiraling.

“Honestly, I had changed up my whole stance, almost like my whole style for that fight and I had to stay what’s true to me,” Yanez said during the UFC Fight Night 241 media day. “And again, I don’t know, best way to explain is like, my mind wasn’t really in the fight.”

The Metro Fight Club export continued, “I was still kind of thinking about the Miami fight, the Font fight. So, it was kind of a little bit of a struggle going in…Whatever loss I have had before, I’ve never really thought about my last previous fight before a fight, like [while] walking out. And I was like, ‘Oh f***.’ So, for me, it kind of stayed there. But in that moment, I thought I [would] be able to get over but not at that moment…As soon as the first kick that landed, I was like, ‘What the f***!’ And then after the second one, I was like, ‘Oh sh*t, something’s wrong.’…After that, honestly it was just a downhill battle for me.”

Yanez will look to return to the winning column against Vinicius Salvador at UFC Fight Night 241. Like Yanez, Salvador has lost two in a row, albeit to unranked flyweight opposition rather than top-ranked 135ers. The Texan believes it should be an easy night at the office if he sticks to his basics.

“I think it’s a fantastic matchup for me,” Yanez explained. “All I gotta do is keep my base, stay technical, tactical, and just making sure that I make it a beautiful disaster for him. And just make sure that I hit him, make sure that whenever I hit him, that he feels it. And again, I can’t get away from my base, cause I've gotten away from it one too many times and I’ve worked on it this whole camp, making sure that I got my base. Cause again, for me, the way I look at this fight, as long as I stay tight and I stay clean, this should be an easy dub.”