Preview: UFC Fight Night 230 ‘Yusuff vs. Barboza’

Bantamweights

#13 BW | Jonathan Martinez (18-4, 9-3 UFC) vs. #14 BW | Adrian Yanez (16-4, 5-1 UFC)

ODDS: Martinez (-112), Yanez (-108)

The UFC’s bantamweight division was hardly in need of more talent, but Martinez is yet another addition to the deep ranks at 135 pounds, as “Dragon” has had an unexpected rise from anonymity to top prospect status. Signed by the UFC in 2018, Martinez did not come into his debut with much of the way of profile or expectations and indeed chugged along in unspectacular fashion for about two years, at which point wins over Frankie Saenz and Thomas Almeida opened some eyes. Martinez was then turned back in surprising fashion by Davey Grant, but he has since put together five straight wins in impressive fashion, capped by complete performances against Cub Swanson and Said Nurmagomedov. The Swanson fight was one of the clearest examples of Martinez finding some aggression, ending the fight with what has become his signature leg kicks. While Martinez found himself in early trouble against Nurmagomedov, he eventually came back and clinched the win with another well-rounded showing. Martinez looks to keep playing spoiler against Yanez, who is attempting to rebound from the first loss in what has been a scintillating UFC run thus far.

Unlike Martinez, Yanez came into the UFC with a solid amount of hype, owing to a brutal 39-second knockout to earn a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020. That showed off the aggressive but sharp boxing that has become Yanez’s signature in the years since—a focus that led him to kick off his UFC career with five straight wins. His willingness to eat offense to land offense led to some scrapes and close calls, but Yanez went into his April fight with Rob Font expecting a breakthrough victory. Instead, Font turned out to be the man with enough power and craft to make Yanez pay for his approach. Yanez found some success in a quick sprint of a fight, but Font landed some big shots to send him reeling and end things in a shade under three minutes. It will be interesting to see what kind of success each fighter can mount here. Yanez’s single-minded approach can leave a lot of openings that Martinez can exploit with his increasingly diverse set of skills. With that said, it is also unclear if Martinez can scare Yanez off that game, whether via landing some big offense or turning things into a grind. The lean is that Yanez can make this enough of a scrap to win rounds, but this is a well-matched fight that can go any number of ways depending on how each fighter answers some tough tests. The pick is Yanez via decision.

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Yusuff vs. Barboza
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The Prelims