One of three bantamweight bangers on the schedule this weekend, Jonathan Martinez and Adrian Yanez square off in a battle of ranked fighters looking to take another step forward in the ultra-competitive division.
The soft-spoken Martinez has become one to watch in the 135-pound ranks over the past couple years, cobbling together a five-fight winning streak heading into Saturday’s clash with Yanez. After chopping down Cub Swanson last October, the 29-year-old “Dragon” outworked Said Nurmagomedov in March to force his way into the rankings and force people to start to pay closer attention to him as he works his way up the divisional ladder.
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One of the top graduates from Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Yanez rattled off five straight wins to begin his UFC tenure, vaulting himself into the rankings and onto the radar as an ascending bantamweight to watch. The Texas native took a step up in competition last time out and faltered, suffering a first-round stoppage loss to Rob Font, and now returns to the friendly confines of the UFC APEX, where he’s 5-0 with four finishes, to face off with Martinez.
This is one of those interesting matchups where Martinez is ranked higher, entering on a more significant run of success, and yet Yanez is the one that thus far commands greater attention. Martinez is a more varied and diverse striker under Marc Montoya at Factory X, while Yanez prefers to box and has flashed swift combinations and good power.
The action in the bantamweight division is always electric and the competition to climb the ranks is always fierce, which means this should be an incredible clash in the middle of the main card this weekend.
