Before his son made it into the UFC, Andres Yanez, father of bantamweight Adrian Yanez dreamed big on his son’s potential as a fighter, hoping one day the Texan native would make it into sport’s biggest organisation.
At the age of 26, Adrian Yanez achieved both he and his father’s dream of making it into the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series defeating Brad Huyang in the 1st round. Sadly, Andres never got to witness his son’s rise into one of the hottest prospects in the sport as he passed away a few years prior, losing his battle to cancer at the age of 58.
Yanez said: “He was always there for every single one of my fights, and he wasn’t physically able to be there.
“As soon as it was brought up in the interview I just remember really wishing he was there.
“I could feel his presence but I really wanted to just be able to hug him.
“It felt great, but it was bittersweet, because that one person who would always tell me I’d be there, wasn’t able to be there physically. So it hurt.”
Despite not being able to witness his son achieve his dream, Adrian Yanez fulfilled his promise of making it into the UFC by bringing his contract to his father’s grave showcasing he had achieved their dream.
“I had always promised my dad I was going to get him a title,” Yanez said. “Not that I’ve broken that promise yet as I’m going to be gunning for that UFC title.
“That is another aspiration, that’s a big dream and I’m going to get it for him.
“But I’ve had a couple of chances to bring him a title and I’ve never come through on my promise. I know how it feels to break the promise.
“I was close to getting a title and not being able to go take it to my dad, it would break me every single time.
“Whenever I got the chance to get the contract and I went out there and I stretched Brady Huang.
“I got to go show the (UFC) contract to my dad. This was really fulfilling for me. I go to him and tell him ‘you told me I could get here and I got here, look I even got the papers’.”
Now he will look to fulfil another promise he made his late father, in bringing him a title. His aspirations of becoming a champion in the UFC have started off brightly with two back-to-back knockout victories in his first fights in the promotion displaying the potential his father always knew he had.
Yanez will face his toughest test yet with Randy Costa his next matchup as the bantamweight prospects battle it out on July 24th. A win over Costa would edge Yanez closer towards the rankings, as he starts to enter the title conversation in the UFC’s most exciting division.
