Tag: Adrian Yanez

EXCLUSIVE | Adrian Yanez Vows To KO Kelley After Brazil Comments

Adrian Yanez isn’t naive to Brazilian fans wanting him to punish Tony Kelley and he’s embracing the pressure that comes with it. Yanez will face Kelley in the featured preliminary bout of UFC Austin this Saturday. Yanez is looking to further his climb in the bantamweight division and potentially move closer to a spot in…

Continue Reading EXCLUSIVE | Adrian Yanez Vows To KO Kelley After Brazil Comments at MMA News.

Adrian Yanez isn’t naive to Brazilian fans wanting him to punish Tony Kelley and he’s embracing the pressure that comes with it.

Yanez will face Kelley in the featured preliminary bout of UFC Austin this Saturday. Yanez is looking to further his climb in the bantamweight division and potentially move closer to a spot in the rankings.

The atmosphere behind the matchup escalated when Kelley was heard making controversial remarks about Brazilians while cornering his teammate Andrea Lee just weeks ago. He referred to them as “dirty Brazilians” after Viviane Araujo poked Lee in the eye.

Now, Yanez has the support of a nation behind him as he gets ready for his matchup with Kelley. But to him, pressure is nothing new for the up-and-coming 135lber out of Houston, TX.

During an exclusive interview with MMA News, Yanez downplayed whether or not the pressure from Brazilian fans will impact his performance.

“Honestly, it plays into my favor with getting more fans and everything, but the gameplan is never changed,” Yanez said. “I still want to go in there, I still want to knock him out. Everything is still the same, but there’s more people that want to see me do it. I think that’s super cool, it sucks the way it happened, but at the same time if I make other fans a lot more happy for that even happening then 100%, come on board. I’m here for it.

“To me, it doesn’t change anything because I love fighting under pressure. It’s fantastic and it brings something else out of you so it brings me more excitement. Performing under pressure…it doesn’t bring any added pressure that I haven’t already put on myself. Everyone else, friends, and family, are in the back of my mind. Because I put the most pressure on myself.

“The comments he made, pretty shitty. Stupid, his downfall ended up being something that a lot of people are now looking at me to knock him out. So it plays into my favor because I was already planning to knock him out. I’m going to satisfy the fans and also be myself, and hopefully get another $50k.”

Yanez is entering his fight with Kelley riding on an eight-fight winning streak, including four straight in the UFC. He earned a shot after a knockout win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020.

Yanez is no stranger to highlight finishes, with knockouts in four of his last six fights. And now, he’s promising something special ahead of his clash with Kelley.

“Like Derrick Lewis says: ‘Houston throws, we swang and bang’, that’s exactly what I’m gonna go do,” Yanez proclaimed. “I’m gonna go out there and knock him out.

“Tony Kelley went out there and said he’s the Louisiana guy from the swamps, well I’m from Houston where we swang and bang…I’m telling you right now, I’m getting that knockout. I’m not gonna search for it, but I know with my style and what he brings, I’m gonna get a knockout and another $50k for me.”

UFC Austin takes place Saturday, June 18, and will be headlined by a featherweight clash between top contenders Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett.

Continue Reading EXCLUSIVE | Adrian Yanez Vows To KO Kelley After Brazil Comments at MMA News.

Tony Kelley: “Calling Me Racist Is The Stupidest Thing To Say”

UFC bantamweight Tony Kelley has further responded to criticism of his ‘dirty Brazilians’ comment while cornering Andrea Lee. Kelley is slated to face Adrian Yanez this weekend at UFC Austin. He’s been heavily criticized after a clip of him making disparaging comments about Brazilians, and flyweight Viviane Araújo went viral. Just days away from his…

Continue Reading Tony Kelley: “Calling Me Racist Is The Stupidest Thing To Say” at MMA News.

UFC bantamweight Tony Kelley has further responded to criticism of his ‘dirty Brazilians’ comment while cornering Andrea Lee.

Kelley is slated to face Adrian Yanez this weekend at UFC Austin. He’s been heavily criticized after a clip of him making disparaging comments about Brazilians, and flyweight Viviane Araújo went viral.

Just days away from his fight with Yanez, Kelley has been forced to further address his recent comments and hit back at accusations of racism.

During a recent interview with Cageside Press, Kelley denied any malicious intent with his comments in Lee’s corner.

“Actually, I dislike everyone equally, I’ll put it that way,” Kelley admitted. “So I think pretty much I’ve answered all that, much love to my Brazilian fans and friends. If you don’t like what I said, I don’t know what to tell you on that, sorry. Sorry if you got your feelings hurt.

“I think everyone who knows me, knows the diverse group of friends and the circle I’m in. They obviously know that [calling me] racist is, like, the stupidest thing to say. There’s real racism going on in the world.” (h/t Bloody Elbow)

After previously blaming cancel culture for the outrage to his comments, as dispelled by his upcoming opponent Yanez, Kelley claimed that it was a calculated attack from a social media user.

“People feel like I’m blaming cancel culture or whatever. No, ultimately, I’m talking shit about cancel culture because my job is to relay information in the corner, and I’m really not focused on if I offend somebody or not,” Kelley said.

“That’s the last thing on my mind. If you go back and you actually watch the fight, everyone’s like ‘Aww, you’re a dumbass. Why would you say that on international television?’ Well, I didn’t.

“If you watch the fight, you’ll never hear it air. It was not aired. So somebody clipped that out and sent it off into the Twitterverse just to get at me.”

Kelley has won back-to-back fights and three of his last four bouts overall. He most recently finished Randy Costa in the second round at UFC 269 last December.

Yanez has garnered a new fanbase in Brazil since Kelley’s comments, but Kelley will look to silence his haters and put his comments in the rear-view mirror.

What are your thoughts on Tony Kelley and his controversial Brazil comments?

Continue Reading Tony Kelley: “Calling Me Racist Is The Stupidest Thing To Say” at MMA News.

Adrian Yanez Happy To See Aljamain Sterling Silence “Racist” Trolls

UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez was happy to see Aljamain Sterling rise above alleged racism online. Sterling most recently defeated former bantamweight champion, Petr Yan in a highly anticipated rematch at UFC 273. After five rounds of action, Sterling earned the win on the scorecards via a split decision. Sterling continues to deal with his fair…

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez Happy To See Aljamain Sterling Silence “Racist” Trolls at MMA News.

UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez was happy to see Aljamain Sterling rise above alleged racism online.

Sterling most recently defeated former bantamweight champion, Petr Yan in a highly anticipated rematch at UFC 273. After five rounds of action, Sterling earned the win on the scorecards via a split decision.

Sterling continues to deal with his fair share of hate from UFC fans despite his recent performance. But before the biggest fight of his career, he was allegedly the victim of various personal attacks with streaks of racism on social media from trolls.

During a recent interview with SportsKeeda, Yanez gave his thoughts on the amount of hate that Sterling gets online that can at times cross the line.

“But man, just to like see the amount of hate that guy had got, like people were calling him clown, people were being super, super racist, man,” Yanez said. “I was tagged in one of his posts and like, just off the offset me looking through his comments like, ‘Man, you know what? I want to see how bad [it] gets.’

“Like, man, people were getting super racist, so like to see him come out on top, just with all the adversity, all the people…it was disturbing, like, it was really, really disturbing to see.”

Yanez Happy To See Sterling Victorious At UFC 273

UFC 273: Aljamain Sterling blasts 'dirty' TJ Dillashaw – 'I can't wait to punch him in the face' | South China Morning Post
Credit: Getty Images

After addressing some of the comments left by trolls on Sterling’s social media, Yanez went on to praise the bantamweight champion for being able to overcome all the hate and get his arm raised in victory at UFC 273.

“And just to see him pull that off, to me, was just like, wow like I’m so happy that he got out there and he did it,” Yanez continued. “And he won the fight, and like, just to see him and just to see all the hard work that he put in.”

Sterling has been in race-related controversies dating back to 2017 when former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt referred to him as “boy” during a Twitter back-and-forth. Henry Cejudo was also criticized in 2020 for a social media post that featured a callout of Sterling with what some argued to have racist connotations.

As for his relationship with fans, Sterling has been on the receiving end of constant attacks ever since his controversial UFC 259 title victory. And according to Yanez, some of those attacks were centered around race.

Yanez could be on a collision course with Sterling and the rest of the bantamweight title picture with a few more victories. Nevertheless, despite his competitive nature, he’s not afraid to give the 135lb champion credit when he feels it’s due.

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez Happy To See Aljamain Sterling Silence “Racist” Trolls at MMA News.

Adrian Yanez Rejects Tony Kelley’s “Cancel Culture” Defense

UFC bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez has slammed Tony Kelley’s response to the criticism surrounding his controversial remarks earlier this month. At UFC Vegas 54, Kelley was present in the corner of his partner Andrea Lee for her women’s flyweight scrap with Viviane Araújo. Following the opening round, “KGB” appeared to suggest that she’d been the…

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez Rejects Tony Kelley’s “Cancel Culture” Defense at MMA News.

UFC bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez has slammed Tony Kelley’s response to the criticism surrounding his controversial remarks earlier this month.

At UFC Vegas 54, Kelley was present in the corner of his partner Andrea Lee for her women’s flyweight scrap with Viviane Araújo. Following the opening round, “KGB” appeared to suggest that she’d been the recipient of an eye poke from her Brazilian opponent.

In response, Kelley made some distasteful remarks about Araújo and her nation, saying, “That’s what they’re gonna do. They’re dirty f*ckin’ Brazilians.”

After facing criticism from all corners of the MMA community for his words, Kelley defended himself by suggesting that the attempt to hold him accountable proved that “cancel culture is real.”

Like many, Adrian Yanez doesn’t believe that the Louisianan’s response was good enough or appropriate.

Yanez, who is set to share the Octagon with Kelley at UFC Austin next month, spoke about his upcoming opponent’s actions during an interview with Sportskeeda MMA. According to the rising striker, Kelley’s use of “cancel culture” as a defense simply doesn’t hold up.

“Yeah, and you know what? Like, his response was kind of just like, ‘I don’t know.’ I honestly was just like, ‘Bro, all you had to do is just apologize.’ Like that’s all you really had to do,” said Yanez. “You didn’t have to go out there and [be] like, ‘Oh, cancel culture.’ Like, bro, honestly, us fighters, we’re not big enough to be canceled, so it’s like, it’s not really cancel culture.

“It’s just (that) you offended a whole bunch of people from Brazil, and now you’re getting the backlash from it,” added Yanez. “It’s not cancel culture, there’s a lot of people that just didn’t like what you said, responding to you.”

Yanez Sends Kelley Some Apology Advice

Having criticized Kelley’s attitude and decision to defend his remarks, Yanez went on to explain how the 35-year-old should have responded to the backlash, which saw fans, pundits, and fighters, including Brazilian ones, condemn his words.

“His response could have just been, ‘Hey man, in the heat of the moment I just wasn’t even thinking straight, I’m sorry, I’m completely sorry,’” suggested Yanez. “But except he just kind of just put the blame, so (instead) of being like, ‘Hey, you know, I apologize,’ (he) just went, ‘No, f**k you, it’s cancel culture.’

“So to me, he kind of messed up by not even like just admitting he was wrong. And what he said, he could have been like, ‘Man, I meant it towards like, not to call her a dirty Brazilian or anything like that.’ And could have just been like, ‘She’s a dirty fighter,’ or whatever, you know? But he went on (to) talk mess (about) the whole country.”

Given the controversy, it’s safe to say that Yanez will have a whole lot of support behind him come June 18, likely including an entire South American country.

Having received messages of encouragement from the likes of UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns, it seems that Yanez will be looking to deliver a knockout finish for more than just himself this time around.

Do you agree with Adrian Yanez’s take on Tony Kelley’s response?

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez Rejects Tony Kelley’s “Cancel Culture” Defense at MMA News.

Adrian Yanez Rejects Tony Kelley’s “Cancel Culture” Defense

UFC bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez has slammed Tony Kelley’s response to the criticism surrounding his controversial remarks earlier this month. At UFC Vegas 54, Kelley was present in the corner of his partner Andrea Lee for her women’s flyweight scrap with Viviane Araújo. Following the opening round, “KGB” appeared to suggest that she’d been the…

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez Rejects Tony Kelley’s “Cancel Culture” Defense at MMA News.

UFC bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez has slammed Tony Kelley’s response to the criticism surrounding his controversial remarks earlier this month.

At UFC Vegas 54, Kelley was present in the corner of his partner Andrea Lee for her women’s flyweight scrap with Viviane Araújo. Following the opening round, “KGB” appeared to suggest that she’d been the recipient of an eye poke from her Brazilian opponent.

In response, Kelley made some distasteful remarks about Araújo and her nation, saying, “That’s what they’re gonna do. They’re dirty f*ckin’ Brazilians.”

After facing criticism from all corners of the MMA community for his words, Kelley defended himself by suggesting that the attempt to hold him accountable proved that “cancel culture is real.”

Like many, Adrian Yanez doesn’t believe that the Louisianan’s response was good enough or appropriate.

Yanez, who is set to share the Octagon with Kelley at UFC Austin next month, spoke about his upcoming opponent’s actions during an interview with Sportskeeda MMA. According to the rising striker, Kelley’s use of “cancel culture” as a defense simply doesn’t hold up.

“Yeah, and you know what? Like, his response was kind of just like, ‘I don’t know.’ I honestly was just like, ‘Bro, all you had to do is just apologize.’ Like that’s all you really had to do,” said Yanez. “You didn’t have to go out there and [be] like, ‘Oh, cancel culture.’ Like, bro, honestly, us fighters, we’re not big enough to be canceled, so it’s like, it’s not really cancel culture.

“It’s just (that) you offended a whole bunch of people from Brazil, and now you’re getting the backlash from it,” added Yanez. “It’s not cancel culture, there’s a lot of people that just didn’t like what you said, responding to you.”

Yanez Sends Kelley Some Apology Advice

Having criticized Kelley’s attitude and decision to defend his remarks, Yanez went on to explain how the 35-year-old should have responded to the backlash, which saw fans, pundits, and fighters, including Brazilian ones, condemn his words.

“His response could have just been, ‘Hey man, in the heat of the moment I just wasn’t even thinking straight, I’m sorry, I’m completely sorry,’” suggested Yanez. “But except he just kind of just put the blame, so (instead) of being like, ‘Hey, you know, I apologize,’ (he) just went, ‘No, f**k you, it’s cancel culture.’

“So to me, he kind of messed up by not even like just admitting he was wrong. And what he said, he could have been like, ‘Man, I meant it towards like, not to call her a dirty Brazilian or anything like that.’ And could have just been like, ‘She’s a dirty fighter,’ or whatever, you know? But he went on (to) talk mess (about) the whole country.”

Given the controversy, it’s safe to say that Yanez will have a whole lot of support behind him come June 18, likely including an entire South American country.

Having received messages of encouragement from the likes of UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns, it seems that Yanez will be looking to deliver a knockout finish for more than just himself this time around.

Do you agree with Adrian Yanez’s take on Tony Kelley’s response?

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez Rejects Tony Kelley’s “Cancel Culture” Defense at MMA News.

Adrian Yanez vs. Tony Kelley Set For UFC Austin On June 18

Bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez is set to enter the Octagon for the first time in 2022 at UFC Austin on June 18, where he’ll collide with Tony Kelley. The pair will throw down inside The Moody Center in what will be the UFC’s first trip to Texas since 2018. News of the matchup was broken…

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez vs. Tony Kelley Set For UFC Austin On June 18 at MMA News.

Bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez is set to enter the Octagon for the first time in 2022 at UFC Austin on June 18, where he’ll collide with Tony Kelley.

The pair will throw down inside The Moody Center in what will be the UFC’s first trip to Texas since 2018. News of the matchup was broken by Yanez’s representation, Iridium Sports Agency, with the rising 135lber sharing the post on his personal social media platforms soon after.

Yanez (15-3) has been calling for a fight for a while and has finally had his wish of competing in his home state granted. On June 18, the La Porte native will be looking to continue his fast ascension up the bantamweight ladder by extending his perfect UFC record to 5-0.

So far, Yanez has dispatched Victor Rodriguez, Gustavo Lopez, Randy Costa, and Davey Grant since graduating through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020. Having been taken to the scorecards in the Octagon for the first time last November, the 28-year-old will be hoping to return to his knockout ways when he enters the cage for the first time this year.

Given the talk of a potential fight with #13-ranked Sean O’Malley, whose now being lined up to face top-10 bantamweight Pedro Munhoz in July, it stands to reason that another victory for Yanez will land him a big-name opponent and perhaps even a number next to his name soon enough.

But looking to put an end to Yanez’s hype will be Kelley (8-2), a Louisianan who has fought under the UFC banner on three occasions. Most recently, the 35-year-old moved his promotional record to 2-1 with a TKO finish over one of Yanez’s former opponents, Costa, after which he called out Yanez for a fight in Texas.

Fans may recall Kelley hitting the headlines last time out after opting for a 20-hour drive to Las Vegas over wearing a mask on a plane. He’ll be making a slightly shorter trip to Austin this time around.

The current fights expected to take place on the UFC Austin card are as follows:

Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett (featherweight main event)

Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon (lightweight)

Tim Means vs. Kevin Holland (welterweight)

Damir Ismagulov vs. Guram Kutateladze (lightweight)

Roman Dolidze vs. Kyle Daukaus (middleweight)

Adrian Yanez vs. Tony Kelley (bantamweight)

Joaquin Buckley vs. Albert Duraev (middleweight)

Eddie Wineland vs. Cody Stamann (bantamweight)

Court McGee vs. Jeremiah Wells (welterweight)

Maria Oliveira vs. Gloria de Paul (women’s strawweight)

Julian Marquez vs. Gregory Rodrigues (middleweight)

Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn (middleweight)

Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Natalie Silva (women’s flyweight)

Who do you think will have their hand raised at UFC Austin, Adrian Yanez or Tony Kelley?

Continue Reading Adrian Yanez vs. Tony Kelley Set For UFC Austin On June 18 at MMA News.