Adrian
Yanez won’t throw caution to the wind for an extra
paycheck.
Yanez is scheduled to fight Ricky Simon
at
UFC Seattle on Saturday at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle,
Washington. While the
UFC has raised the bonuses for the Paramount era, Yanez won’t
be hunting for a finish against Simon. Yanez learned an important
lesson in Michael
Bisping’s middleweight title win over Luke
Rockhold in 2016. While Rockhold was vowing to knock out
Bisping, “The Count” dethroned dethroned him with a knockout in the
first round. As much as Yanez would like an extra paycheck, he
knows that his opponent is also lured by the same idea. While Yanez
has earned his fair share of bonuses in the UFC, he wishes it was
in the Paramount era instead of ESPN era.
Don’t Force It
“I do want a third check night, but at the same time, I got someone
in front of me who’s gonna be looking for the same thing,” Yanez
told MMAjunkie.com. “So sometimes you just gotta
take a smarter approach… When Michael Bisping won the title, the
one thing I take back is that – Luke Rockhold< was saying, ‘I’m
gonna knock out Michael Bisping. I’m gonna do it.’ A lot of times
when you search for the knockout, you end up getting knocked out.
So I’m not searching for it; if it happens, it happens… I’ve
already got five bonuses but I wish it was in the Paramount era
instead of the ESPN era.”
Yanez (17-6) was undefeated in his first five UFC outings, earning
four “Performance of the Night “bonuses and a “Fight of the Night”
bonus. The UFC bonuses during the ESPN era were $50,000. However,
the UFC has increased the bonuses to $100,000 starting with the
Paramount deal this year, while also awarding $25,000 for every
finish. Yanez has dropped three of his last four outings since the
end of his bonus winning streak. Meanwhile, Simon (22-7) is coming
off a loss against Raoni
Barcelos that snapped a two-fight winning
streak.