Adrian Yanez is Open to Tony Kelley Callout, but Sees Upside to Sean O’Malley Fight

After his performance at UFC Fight Night 198, Adrian Yanez is currently riding an impressive eight-fight winning streak. Still, Yanez (15-3, 4-0 UFC) has yet to land his first ranked spot in the bantamweight division, despite overcoming all his opponents under the UFC banner so far. In his latest Octagon appearance, the Metro Fight Club representative outpointed Davey Grant via split decision, though most if not all media members appeared to score the fight for Yanez. While the new dad will take a few months off competition to be with his newborn son, Adrian Jr., it seems that the Dana White's Contender Series graduate won’t be short of options new opponents once he returns. In addition to Tony Kelley, who called Yanez out after defeating Randy Costa at UFC 269, Yanez would also like to face the hottest name at 135 pounds right now, Sean O’Malley.

“To me, they’re both have upsides to it,” Yanez said. “I get a great fight against Kelley, a guy who I feel would be able to, how can I say it, stylistically it’s a great fight for me because he’s going to come forward and I love countering. He’s going to wake up like he’s going to overcommit on a shot and I counter him, I walk away with my hands up and it’s a great fight. With O’Malley, I know it’s going to be a bigger payday. As soon as we get into the fight, I just know I’m already going to get a pay bump and everything. On top of that, knocking O’Malley out will give me another bigger pay bump, so, of course, yes, that O’Malley fight would be great too.”

Yanez also discussed losing his head coach Saul Soliz earlier this year, his resolutions for 2022, and more.

(00:00) Intro
(01:38) His son’s birth
(02:38) Answering Tony Kelley’s call-out
(03:23) His thoughts on Sean O’Malley
(04:30) His victory over Grant
(09:07) His plan to get a finish against Grant
(11:55) Losing his coach and father figure, Saul Soliz
(16:20) The current situation at Metro Fight Club
(17:33) His plans for 2022
(18:57) Favorite Christmas movie
(19:40) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.