Bantamweight Adrian Yanez returns to action this Saturday against Vinicius Salvador at UFC Vegas 92, looking to bounce back from both a loss, and meniscus tear that has kept him out of action since October.
That setback to Jonathan Martinez found Yanez dwelling on his previous fight, a situation he hadn’t previously experienced, he explained during this week’s UFC Vegas 92 media day.
“My mind wasn’t really in the fight. It still was kind of thinking about the Miami fight, the [Rob] Font fight. So it was kind of a little bit of a struggle going in,” recalled Yanez (16-5). “That was the first time— even whatever loss I’ve had before, I never really thought about my last previous fight, before a fight walking out.”
Yanez went on to add that “in that moment, I thought I would be able to get over it, but no. At that moment, as soon as the first kick that landed, I’m like ‘what the f*ck?’ then after the second one, I was like ‘oh sh*t, something’s wrong.’ I was like ‘oh sh*t.’ After that, honestly, it was just a downhill battle for me.”
By the second round, Yanez had fallen to Martinez’s onslaught of leg kicks. But moving forward, he’s staying the course. “I’ve got to stay true to myself. I can’t change, I can’t change for anybody, I can’t change for myself. Can’t change for anybody else. I’ve got to stay true to myself.”
Mentally, he’s also in a better place, having found the time to really look at things during his layoff.
“Pretty much since after that injury, I had a lot of time to sit back and reflect. Once I got to sit down and actually reflect I started getting mad at myself, for letting all that get to me. Because again, I’ve done a way better job of kind of compartmentalize that stuff.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 92 media day appearance by Adrian Yanez above.
