The UFC has added an absolute barnburner to the UFC 334 event in New York on November 14. In the bantamweight division, Adrian Yañez returns to the Octagon to take on Juan Díaz. The event takes place at Madison Square Garden.
Multiple sources have confirmed the booking to Heavy.com after an initial report by Te La Cante MMA. Both Yañez and Díaz hope a win will earn them a shot at a top-15 bantamweight early next year.
Never In A Boring Fight
Adrian Yañez earned his contract in the UFC in the fourth season of the Contender Series. In 2020, he finished Brady Huang within a minute to get signed by the UFC. The American fighter had a flying start in the UFC with five consecutive wins and bonuses. He beat fighters like Randy Costa, Tony Kelley, and Davey Grant. After going 5-0 in his first five fights, the UFC gave Yañez a big step up in competition. In 2023, he got matched up with top-10-ranked Rob Font. Font’s boxing was, as always, on point. Yañez lost for the first time in his UFC career via TKO in the first round.
After also losing to Jonathan Martinez by leg kicks in the same year, Yañez knew that he had to win in 2024 against Vinicius Salvador to keep the top 20 of the division in reach. Yañez won via TKO in the first round, but dropped a close split decision afterwards to Daniel Marcos. He didn’t fight last year but came back earlier this year against Ricky Simón. The fight ended in a draw after three rounds. Yañez felt robbed of a win and wanted to be booked as soon as possible again. The UFC granted his wish and booked him in July against former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. Yañez finished Garbrandt via TKO in the first round. Now he is back for the third time this year to take on the highly touted Juan Díaz.
Breakthrough Fighter?
Juan Díaz was one of the most highly touted prospects to earn a contract on the Contender Series last year. The 28-year-old Peruvian fighter was the LUX Fighting League champion when he got the call from the UFC to compete on the Contender Series last year. Díaz won in the second round via a highlight-reel spinning back elbow knockout against Kwon Il Won. There was obviously no doubt that he earned a contract with that finish.
The UFC also seemed very high on the Peruvian fighter since they matched him up in his UFC debut against Malcolm Wellmaker. Wellmaker came off a, at that time, surprising loss against Ethyn Ewing. Díaz fought well against the American fighter and finished him via rear-naked choke submission in the second round, earning him the “Performance of the Night” bonus. Now, he is back six months after his debut win to take on Adrian Yañez.
UFC 334 – November 14 (New York)
- Adrian Yañez vs. Juan Díaz
- Nazim Sadykhov vs. Jefferson Nascimento
- Bilal Hasan vs. Luis Gurule
Bantamweight Barnburner Added to UFC 334 in New York