Las Vegas, NV — Adrian Yanez called his head kick finish of Victor Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 12 in advance.
“I was actually telling my training partner all week, that I was going to hit the head kick,” he said during the event’s post-fight press conference, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “I don’t know what it was, but I just knew the head kick was going to be there.”
It sure was. Opponent Rodriguez helped a wee bit, as he was moving towards Yanez when the kick was thrown. The impact sent him crashing to the canvas. The end result was a highlight reel debut in Yanez’s debut, on a night full of big finishes.
“I’ve always wanted a head kick knockout. Punch knockouts, they’re great. They’re really, really great. But I’ve always admired Anderson Silva, and Mirko Cro-Cop, and Gabriel Gonzaga, whenever he hit it on Mirko Cro-Cop,” admitted Yanez. He even remembers exactly where he was when Silva landed the front kick on Vitor Belfort. “To me, I always thought that was really cool. Taking something that’s at floor level, and bringing it up to someone’s head, and knocking them out. To me, that was very, very cool. And for me to do that, I was like ‘hell yeah!'”
Yanez has now graduated from Dana White’s Contender Series, to the UFC proper. Which means a lot to both Yanez, and, he said, his family. “The Contender Series to me, I just got the contract, I was able to put my foot in the door. But now, this opportunity that I had to jump in the UFC, it means a lot to me. I think it means a lot more to my family as well.” Because, Yanez added, there will be no question about what he’s done in the UFC. Now, should anyone ask, they can show his head kick knockout.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 12 post-fight press conference with Adrian Yanez above.
