Adrian Yanez Believes Win Over Vinicius Salvador Doesn’t Warrant Ranked Opponent

Adrian Yanez may be his own harshest critic.

Yanez (17-5) triumphantly rebounded from a skid of two straight knockout losses by blasting Vinicius Salvador at UFC Fight Night 241 on May 18. Yanez subsequently called out unranked up-and-comers Victor Henry and Daniel Santos, with the latter having already accepted the callout. Yanez also aimed high, eyeing Deiveson Figueiredo, but believes it’s a long shot. Yanez recently talked with MMA Junkie, where he discussed his plans to work his way back up the ladder.

“If I’m trying to eek my way in, trying to somehow squeak my way in to fight someone in the top 15, I feel like I would like to fight someone like ‘Figgy’ [Deiveson Figueiredo]. I feel like just because of the fact that he fought Brandon Moreno a couple of times, my favorite fighter is Brandon Moreno,” Yanez explained.

A fight against Figueiredo may be off the table for now, as “Deus da Guerra” recently agreed to face Marlon Vera at UFC Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3. Yanez may have aimed high for that particular name, but he has tempered his expectations. The Texan came into the UFC and amassed five straight wins to claim a ranked spot at 135 pounds. However, consecutive stoppage losses to Rob Font and Jonathan Martinez in 2023 sent him tumbling down the leaderboard. Although he picked up a big win his last time out, Yanez is otherwise pumping the brakes on pursuing ranked opposition again.

“I did two wrongs, now I gotta make three rights,” Yanez stated. “I gotta go out there and for every five steps back I take, I gotta take ten steps forward in a sense… Especially with a guy like Salvador, do I deserve to fight a guy who’s in the top 15 after knocking him out? You know, a guy coming up from 125 [pounds], 0-2 in the UFC. Like do I deserve to fight a guy that’s right in the top 15? I don’t think that really kind of gives me a spot to even fight a guy that’s in the top 15. Of course, I went out there and did what I’m supposed to do to him—this is me objectively looking at it.”

Yanez continued, “I think like a win over Victor Henry, or those guys, one of the Basharat brothers, Aiemann Zahabi. I think all those guys, getting a win over them, if it was them that I beat, like I smashed or knocked out, yeah, of course, I’d be asking for a guy in the top 15.”