Adrian Yanez knew he had a chance to send a statement to the bantamweight division at UFC 329.
Yanez was fighting former champion Cody Garbrandt on a massive card, as he knew there were plenty of eyeballs on him, given he was fighting on a Conor McGregor card. Although Yanez entered the bout as the huge favorite, he knew Garbrandt posed a lot of problems, and admitted he was surprised by how fast Garbrandt was.
“It wasn’t even the power. I knew he hit hard; it was more about how fast he closed the distance,” Yanez said on BJPENN.com. “It was more shocking how fast he was. I remember Coach Sayif saying he’s going to be faster than you think, and that is what happened. It was like ‘Oh damn.’ It wasn’t getting hurt; it was how fast he came in and making sure I stayed tight defensively. The only one that hurt was he hit me with a left hook, and then the knee he threw hit me dead square in the forehead, but if it had hit the chin, it might have been a different story.”
Although Garbrandt was faster than Yanez thought, he didn’t get thrown off his game plan. Instead, Yanez focused on finding the range, and once he did, he knew it was a matter of time until he got a stoppage win.
“The way that got set up was all the film study,” Yanez said. “I knew the right hand was going to be there; I just had to put myself in danger or chase it. I knew I could put him away, but I wasn’t going to force anything or chase it; I just wanted to be faster than him. To be honest, I wasn’t looking for power shots early on;
Adrian Yanez ‘pleased’ with UFC 329 win over Cody Garbrandt
“I just wanted to find my range, but after the initial right-hand that hurt him, I realized I could get him out. Then, I hit that second right hand, and every time he’s gotten hurt, he’s shooting or hit the clinch, and as soon as he went for the clinch, I went over the top, and it worked out. I probably did 20 hours of film study for this fight. I was overly prepared.”
Although Adrian Yanez had confidence he would win at UFC 329, he was thrilled he got a first-round win. He also believes knocking a former champion out is badass for him.
“I’m very pleased, very happy with it,” Yanez said. “The biggest thing for me was being able to get a win; I hadn’t won in two years. Not having a win and not being able to be as active as I have wanted, I couldn’t be happier now. This win does a lot for me. And Cody is someone I looked up to at times. Just being able to get a stoppage win over him, that is pretty f*****g badass.”
With the win, Yanez believes he can get back into contention and potentially get a ranked opponent in the near future.
“I think I need one more fight before I get a ranked guy. … I’m still in shape, so I hope I can get back in there soon. If I can get a fight in September or early October, if there is an opening in December, I’d take it. I want to be active,” Yanez concluded.
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