Adrian Yanez claims UFC staff members told him to “f**k up” Tony Kelley prior to their fight in Austin

Adrian Yanez is claiming UFC staff members told him to ‘f**k up’ Tony Kelley prior to their fight in Austin, Texas.

It was Yanez (16-3 MMA) vs Kelley (8-3 MMA) last Saturday, June 18th in a bantamweight bout. The result was a devastating first-round knockout loss for Kelley and another check in the win column for Yanez.

Yanez went into the fight with lots of support from fans, the media and the UFC promotion itself.

In a recent interview with ‘The AllStar’s’, John Hyon Ko, Yanez shared the victory and how it was even more satisfying when he learned that members of the promotion’s staff were calling for him to ‘f**k’ Tony Kelley up in Austin, saying (h/t MMANews):

“It’s an awesome moment for me. Man, that was a lotta emotion. That was a lotta raw emotion, of me just wanting to f*ck that guy up, man. I don’t like that guy. I genuinely don’t like that guy… I heard a lotta stuff about him. It’s a different thing when I’m like, going through the hallways and the UFC staff is telling me to f*ck him up.”

Finishing, Adrian Yanez said:

“That was the first guy I’ve had (where they’ve) been like, ‘F*ck that guy up. Like, beat the sh*t out of him.’ And there’s been so many thank you’s after. Everybody’s like, ‘Thank you man, f*ck.’ Those are the nicest people in the world, too, man, so it means a little bit more. It was a little bit more satisfying.”

It is true that Yanez had the support of his home state at last Saturday’s fight night, but he also had the support of the country of Brazil and a host of fighters & fans who took issue with Kelley’s previous remarks and lack of remorse.

It was Kelley who stirred up controversy with comments he directed to Brazilians while  cornering his partner Andrea Lee (13-6 MMA) who was battling Viviane Araujo (11-3 MMA) in the women’s flyweight bout. Kelley apparently told Lee :

“That’s what they’re going to do – they’re dirty f*cking Brazilians. They’re going to f*cking cheat like that.”

Kelley’s comments were picked up on the international live feed and quickly spread across social media. Suffice to say backlash against the fighter ensued.

Did you watch Yanez vs Kelley this past weekend? Were you pleased with the outcome?

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