There will be a lot on the line when Adrian Yanez (13-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meets Randy Costa (6-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC Vegas 32 on Saturday, July 24.
The bout will serve as a measuring stick to see which bantamweight prospect is progressing along quicker, an opportunity to secure a top-25 135’er, and bragging rights in a battle between Yanez’s Dr. Pepper and Costa’s Reese’s.
Adrian Yanez vs. Randy Costa
At its core, though, the bout marks a fight between two exciting bantamweight strikers.
“Randy Costa poses a lot of problems,” Yanez told MMASucka. “He’s fast, he’s explosive. He’s a little bit awkward. He’s one of the only guys who starts a combination with a kick and then leaves it off with a kick. He’s very awkward in that sense, but he’s super aggressive, and I like that.”
Yanez said he likes to fight aggressive fighters because their styles allow him to capitalize on mistakes.
“It’s one of those where we’re both up-and-coming, we’re both coming off performance bonus wins,” Yanez said. “It’s one of those that’s going to be exciting, because he’s not going to take a step back, and I’m not going to take a step back.”
Yanez has been looking forward to the highly-anticipated bout himself due to Costa’s explosive and aggressive style.
“He doesn’t really care what your name is or who you are,” Yanez said. “He’s going to go out there and try and be in your face the whole entire time. I want that type of a style fight. I know I can thrive in that situation. My last two fights in the UFC, I’m not going to say they were easy, but I wasn’t really posed too many big problems. I want to push myself and see what else I can bring. Randy Costa is going to bring that dog out of me and make me get into that deep place.”
Yanez said the dog hasn’t been brought out of him since his November 2019 split decision win over Kyle Estrada under the LFA banner. Yanez has T/KO’d both Gustavo Lopez and Victor Rodriguez in the UFC off his Contender Series finish of Brady Huang.
“I really loved being in that sense of having the fight of who wants it more,” Yanez said of his win over Estrada. “Who wants it more? I really love that, because, at the end of the day, it’s not really about the technique. It’s about who wants it more. I feel, out of everybody up and coming, Randy Costa is the guy who will be able to bring it out of me.”
Yanez is looking forward to the challenge of having to play a different style of game when he meets Costa.
“It’s going to minimize my head movement just a bit, because of the kicks,” he said. “You slip too far off, and there’s a foot in your face. He’s going to make me have to adjust on the fly to see what he does. Other than that, I feel very confident, because I know he’s going to bring that dog out of me, and I know I can really dig deep.”
Yanez and Costa have a combined 14 T/KOs. He sees himself adding Costa to his highlight reel, but he believes he has the stand-up savvy to protect himself from ending up on Costa’s.
“I don’t get hit very often,” Yanez said. “I’m just not the guy who’s going to go down. [Costa] has the power to do so, but I feel like I’m better technique-wise in boxing and the stand-up department that I’m confident I’ll be able to avoid the big shots and I feel like I’ll land the bigger shots on him. If I don’t, then it’s going to a Fight of the Night. It would definitely be a Fight of the Night, for sure.”
Yanez said he would not shy away from a submission should Costa present the opportunity.
Dr. Pepper vs. Reese’s
The Texan is also hoping for an endorsement deal from his favorite soda brand, Dr. Pepper, should he beat Costa. Costa has been building up Reese’s in what has turned into a fun pre-fight back-and-forth between the two over their favorite brands.
“Dr. Pepper is way better than Reese’s,” Yanez said. “It has 23 flavors of goodness. You’ve got the plain old peanut butter and chocolate. You know, the peanut butter and chocolate is really good itself. But when you combine it with the dumbed-down taste of Reese’s; Reese’s does such a terrible job. You can get yourself some really good chocolate. You can get yourself some really high-quality peanut butter. And yet, you go out there and get the cheapest, you get the most dull of the two, and you put it in a manufactured machine and it prints them by the dozen. There is no specialty to that.
“Dr. Pepper tells you 23 flavors every single time, and then you’re going to get that same quality taste every single time, man,” Yanez added. “[Costa] tries saying it’s barbecue water. Well, I don’t take that as disrespect at all. It definitely is barbecue water. In the great state of Texas, we have the best barbecue out there. And he’s over there with his bland taste with peanut butter Reese’s. Not even the good ones, man. Go get some high-quality chocolate and high-quality peanut butter, and make yourself some better ones, man.”
Once the Dr. Pepper vs. Reese’s clash is behind Yanez, he is hoping for two more bouts before the end of 2021. After that, he intends to take December through February off. Yanez had been training for a UFC 262 bout, which fell through, and hasn’t stopped training since he took the bout with Costa.
“Hopefully, I can get two more fights in after this fight. It would set me up somewhere in a top-25 fight for the 2022 year, so I can really just dig my feet into the ground, grind and work my way up to the top-15, top-5, and hopefully the belt. That’s my plans, and I’m sticking to it.”
Adrian Yanez’s Prediction
When it comes to a prediction, Yanez went with a second-round knockout of Costa.
“He’s a great fighter, and he’s very explosive. I feel like he’s super talented, but he’s running into me. I don’t quit. It’s going to be one of those fun fights. I feel like this fight is going to steal the show. At the end of it, I’m going to come back with a second-round knockout, and everybody is going to love it.”
Adrian Yanez vs. Randy Costa is set for the main card of UFC Vegas 32, which will go down live from the UFC APEX. The card will air on ESPN+.
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