Tonight’s UFC Vegas 81 main card featured a bantamweight banger between Adrian Yanez and Jonathan Martinez, who went head-to-head.
Tonight’s card live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas is headlined by fan-favorite Edson Barboza and up-and-comer Yusuff Sodiq. The co-headliners are Brazilian females Jenifer Maia and Vivane Araujo.
Martinez enters the fight with an appealing (18-4 MMA) record and high on form. The 29-year-old is riding a five-fight win streak since losing to Davey Grant back in 2021. He holds wins over Zviad Lazishviili, Alejandro Perez, Vince Morales, Cub Swanson and Said Nurmagomedov.
Meanwhile, Yanez comes into the fight (16-4 MMA), and is coming of the toughest loss of his career. After riding a nine-fight win streak, Yanez was knocked out by Dan Ige at UFC 287. Prior to that, Yanez has attained UFC wins over Victor Hernandez, Gustavo Lopez, Randy Costa, Davey Grant, and Tony Kelley.
Jonathan Martinez Butchers Adrian Yanez Legs at UFC Vegas 81
Tonight’s fight didn’t deliver the barnburner back-and-forth many may have anticipated, but we did get a masterclass from Jonathan Martinez. From the opening bell of the opening round, Martinez butchered Yanez’s legs. It took several solid low-kicks until Yanez started to break, and his base was taken away from him. Martinez continued to throw and attack the legs, which resulted in Yanez being unable to continue.
In his post-fight interview, Martinez admitted attacking his opponent’s legs was the gameplan to nullify his boxing. After having six-consecutive fights behind him, Martinez told Michael Bisping in the cage he would like to fight Merab Dvalishvili next.
For Yanez, it marks back-to-back stoppages losses, and is the first time in his career he’s ever lost two fights on the bounce. On the other hand, Martinez continues to look better every time he steps inside the Octagon. If Merab’s not the next name he gets, he defiantly deserves a matchup up the ladder to further grow his profile.
What did you make of the stoppage victory by leg kicks from Jonathan Martinez? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
