Three fights, three wins, three finishes, three bonuses — that’s what Yanez has done to start his UFC career.
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After earning a contract with one of the cleanest knockouts in the history of Dana White’s Contender Series in the summer of 2020, the 27-year-old from Houston debuted last Halloween with a first-round head kick finish of Ray Rodriguez. Just under five months later, Yanez returned to the Octagon and made Gustavo Lopez pay for questioning his skills and scoffing at the level of competition he’d faced, and in July, he rallied from a rough opening stanza to collect a second-round stoppage win over Randy Costa, extending his overall winning streak to seven.
This weekend, Yanez faces British veteran Davey Grant in the kind of fight that feels designed to determine if the emerging bantamweight is ready to take the next step forward in the talent-rich division or if he requires a little more seasoning. The veteran from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England has also won a bonus in three straight, collecting Performance of the Night honors for his knockout wins over Martin Day and Jonathan Martinez before teaming with Marlon Vera to land a Fight of the Night bonus when they clashed in June at the UFC APEX.
It’s hard not to get abnormally excited about Yanez and his prospects because, thus far, he’s shown everything you’d look for in an up-and-coming talent, brandishing swift, sharp hands, grit, toughness, and resolve, as well as being a good dude who continues to be awed by the attention he’s received. He has displayed zero ego thus far, and while being brash can bring the spotlight quicker, these humble cats can be every bit as dangerous, even if they’re not letting you know about it 24/7.
Bantamweight has never been deeper and there are a ton of gifted young fighters pushing for a place in the rankings at the moment, and yet Yanez has still managed to stand out above the pack. The fact that Grant’s last bout came against Vera, who just punched his ticket to the Top 10 with a stoppage win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 268, tells you where the TUF alum stands in the hierarchy, as well as how highly the UFC thinks of Yanez.
If he can get through this one, he’ll enter 2022 on the cusp of cracking the Top 15, and if he does it with style points, he could very well vault himself to the top of the list of emerging names to watch in the 135-pound ranks going forward.
