[autotag]Adrian Yanez[/autotag] will be introduced to a global audience Tuesday, and through him, so will his father.
Determined to earn a UFC contract, Yanez (10-3) will compete at Dana White’s Contender Series 28 in Las Vegas. The opportunity, Yanez told MMA Junkie, is a long time coming – especially considering fighting has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember.
Before he was on the UFC’s doorstep, before he won at LFA, Fury FC and Bellator, before he even stepped foot in an MMA gym, Adrian inherited his passion from his father, Andres Yanez, known by those around him as “Andy”.
The patriarch of the Yanez household, it wasn’t unusual for Andy to throw boxing on the TV. From Oscar De La Hoya to Floyd Mayweather to Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward, Adrian remembers the excitement and intrigue that came with watching boxing with his father.
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“I always had the interest to be in some sort of combative sport, but it didn’t come to fruition earlier,” Adrian told MMA Junkie. “… We were watching all (of the boxing greats’) fights. It was always something that piqued my interest.”
Before long, Adrian made his way into an MMA gym he stumbled across when shopping at the mall with his mother. Jiu-jitsu classes were an instant hit.
“I fell in love with it,” Adrian said. “I never wanted to stop.”
As his son pursued MMA, Andy, a blue-collar worker for the port of Houston, was by his side. Not only did Andy attend all of Adrian’s fights, but he was also at his training sessions. Andy provided timeless advice for his son – and he led by example. Andy was Adrian’s mentor, No. 1 supporter and best friend.
“He would always tell me every single time when I got home,” Adrian said. “He’s like, ‘Rock steady. You’ve got to move forward even if you’re just one percent better today – even a half percent better – you just keep going. You’re always getting better. You just keep going.’
“Also, my dad was a hard-working man. My dad was always working. He always provided for my family. Just to see my dad grinding on a day-to-day basis and just physically seeing the man work a hard labor job. The guy never complained. He never complained once.”
In 2016, Andy began experiencing health issues. Throughout Andy’s struggle, he still made a point to be there for his son. He wouldn’t make it to practice as much, but the effort was still there. Andy continued to work until the doctors urged him not to.
After a trip to the local V.A. hospital, the U.S. military veteran was diagnosed with diabetes. However, it turned out diabetes was paired with a bigger issue, as the family found out in November 2015.
“We were like, ‘Oh, OK. Our dad is losing weight because he has diabetes and a new diet,'” Adrian said. “Then we did a separate blood test at a different doctor’s office. A day later, on Thanksgiving Day (2015), they called my dad: ‘You need to go to the hospital right now. You need to go to the emergency room right now.'”
Five days later, Andy was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer – the same day his son celebrated his 22nd birthday. On February 4, 2016, less than three months later, Andy Yanez died at 58.
“What was crazy was that we found that he had Stage IV cancer on my birthday,” Adrian said. “That was heartbreaking to me. Then after that, once we found out it was Stage IV cancer, everything just kind of fell down pretty quick. It went fast in that sense. We had the whole month of December, the whole month of January, and then February 4, my dad passed away.
“During that whole process, it was quick, and my dad only had one chemo session – two types of chemotherapy. It was just one session altogether. After that, chemotherapy drains a lot of people. It just took a lot out of my dad. After that, it just went downhill.”
Andy may not be physically with Adrian, but his spirit still inspires his son. Through hard training sessions and pre-fight mental preparations, even when times get tough, Adrian is inspired by his father’s words and actions. Seeing his father’s mention on the DWCS, Season 4 promotional video, Adrian felt a new fire lit under him.
“It’s one of those things that’s always motivated me,” Yanez said. “I know on the ‘Contender Series’ promo, that picture that was shown where he was walking, I kept that to myself. Once that aired, it aired to the whole world. The only person who saw that picture before it aired was me. To have that be shown and tell the story of that picture, it motivates me. It helps me get through the days, honestly.
“The days I’m thinking about my father, I can take a look back at those moments where he didn’t look good. To see him fight through those days how we saw that he did, it motivates me. It just shows me if you really want to do something, you can get up and go do it. … My dad was always a motivational guy for me. He was just a really great man and a really great father – the perfect role model for a son.”
A contract-earning win on Dana White’s Contender Series will further vindicate all of Andy’s hard work and advice, Adrian said. Furthermore, turning that advice into life-changing results and knowing how proud his father would be will be vindicating for Adrian.
“That would absolutely mean the world to me,” Adrian said. “If I sign that contract, it’ll just show what my dad always told me, ‘If you put in the hard work, if you do all the right things, and you push yourself day in and day out, the hard work will pay itself off. If you half-ass it, you’re going to get half-assed payoffs. You want to go ahead and give it your all so you can get the greater payoffs.'”
If Yanez earns a UFC contract Tuesday, he knows exactly where he’s bringing his paperwork when he gets home – to the man who kick-started his love for MMA, supported him unequivocally, and instilled the principles in him necessary to achieve UFC notoriety.
“He always told me one of the biggest things you can do is just believe in yourself and get yourself in that position,” Adrian said. “You’ve just got to believe in yourself and keep pushing so that when your time comes you will be ready.
“August 11, I will be ready to sign my name on that contract, and I will take that contract to my father’s resting place and show him that I did it.”
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