5 reasons why Adrian Yanez could bring an end to Sean O'Malley's hype train

Adrian Yanez and Sean O'Malley are two of the most exciting bantamweight prospects currently fighting in the UFC. O'Malley's self-taught striking style, with its rich variety and breadth of feinting, is a sight to behold that seems to overwhelm many of his foes. Yanez, on the other hand, has a more brutal approach compared to the flashier style employed by 'Sugar'.

O'Malley recently locked horns with Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276. Unfortunately, the matchup was widely panned as Munhoz was uncharacteristically timid in his engagement, while O'Malley did little else other than check the Brazilian's low kicks. 'Sugar' also committed multiple fouls, the last of which resulted in the bout being ruled a no-contest.

Adrian Yanez fought a few weeks prior to UFC 276, knocking out controversial bantamweight Tony Kelley in spectacular fashion at UFC on ESPN 37. While both Adrian Yanez and Sean O'Malley have a wealth of potential, the power-punching Texan appears to possess the necessary tools to challenge 'Sugar' should the two ever meet. This list details the five reasons why Yanez might derail the O'Malley hype train if the two ever face each other.

---

#5. Adrian Yanez's kicking defense

Much of Sean O'Malley's success as a striker is predicated on his varied skill-set as a kicker. The bantamweight star often uses leg strikes to set up other kicks and punches, most frequently employing low kicks and front kicks to create openings for more devastating blows. The low kicks he throws are hard and punishing, designed to convince his opponents that they're better off trying to catch-and-parry, rather than simply blocking or withstanding them.

O'Malley often feints low, causing his foes to drop their hands in anticipation of a leg strike, before throwing a high kick or right hand over the top of their guard. While effective, this primarily works due to how poorly MMA fighters defend against kicks.

Adrian Yanez, however, does a much better job defending himself. At times, he parries kicks all the way across his guard, allowing him to position himself at an angle from which he can counter his opponents on their open side.

Even when the Texan parries his foe's kicks at his mid-line, he steps in towards them, lunging in with punches to the head and body while his opponent is standing on one leg.

While Yanez isn't always successful at timing his counter-punches after parrying his foe's kicks, he still catches them out of position frequently enough to cause O'Malley problems.

---

#4. Adrian Yanez's answer to the jab

Like any longer-limbed fighter, Sean O'Malley makes consistent use of his jab as a distance management tool. His jab is powerful, and because of his height and length, he is able to use it to keep his opponents on the outside, stinging them when they dare step forward.

The counter he often encounters when jabbing his opponents is the calf kick. While it is an effective counter, it is difficult to land on O'Malley given his preferred range. 'Sugar' uses his height and reach to stand just outside his opponent's kicking range, causing them to miss many of their leg strikes.

Adrian Yanez draws inspiration from the great Alexander Volkanovski when fighting taller fighters intent on jabbing him on the outside. He makes a point to interrupt his opponents, preventing them from building off of their own jab while also answering every single one of their strikes with one of his own. This prevents his foes from outlanding him and settling into a rhythm.

Doing so would essentially neutralize the threat of O'Malley's lead hand, as he'd be stung in the face by Adrian Yanez's jab every single time he throws his. The Texan used this approach to great effect against the taller and longer Randy Costa at the UFC on ESPN: Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw.

---

#3. Adrian Yanez's layered offense & defense

As previously mentioned, Adrian Yanez parries his opponents' kicks very intelligently. He either parries them all the way across himself, allowing him to step in at an angle from which he can land thunderous counters, or he parries them at his mid-line and leaps in with punches to the head and midsection.

When Yanez combines this with his instinct to jab his opponents, his approach proves difficult to handle, even for fighters of Sean O'Malley's ilk. 'Sugar's effectiveness as a striker depends on the use of distance to frustrate his opponents and variety to overwhelm them. A large chunk of that variety involves kicking and feinting at range.

However, against Adrian Yanez, who could neutralize his variety by countering his kicks and challenging his distance management, O'Malley might not be able to force his opponent into a purely reactive state like he often does. Instead, because of Yanez's parries, counters, and jab-interruptions, O'Malley could himself be forced into a position where he must react to what his opponent is doing.

This could create openings for Adrian Yanez's devastating counter-punches and low kicks, as he'll slip them in through gaps O'Malley is not accustomed to.

---

#2. Cardio

There is a clear cardio difference between Adrian Yanez and Sean O'Malley. 'Sugar' is a powerful, snappy counter-striker with exceptional speed. But at the cost of this speed and power, O'Malley suffers in another regard: his cardio.

O'Malley, while lanky, is an athlete with a wealth of fast-twitch muscle fibers. It enables him to generate maximum force in minimum time and is also the source of his natural speed. Unfortunately, this means he has less oxidative, slow-contracting muscle fibers, which fighters like Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz possess in spades and use to support their phenomenal cardio.

Throughout his career as a mixed martial artist, O'Malley typically slows down towards the end of the second round. Adrian Yanez, by contrast, possesses superior cardio, having taken part in more two-round fights and three-round fights than 'Sugar'. In fact, the Texan has even had a five-round fight in the LFA promotion.

One of his most recent performances involved outlasting the power-punching Randy Costa until the latter was gassed by the 2nd round. Given all of the other tools Adrian Yanez possesses that will likely trouble O'Malley, a superior gas tank will only render the fight more difficult for the bantamweight division's colorful star.

---

#1. Rhythm breaks

Sean O'Malley is a counter-striker who has built his career around punishing opponents for throwing ill-advised punches and kicks. This is often magnified by the height and reach advantages he possesses over everyone he faces. As a result, opponents struggle to impose the threat of their jab against him.

Adrian Yanez, though, is a different breed of counter-striker. He is a counter-striker who toys with rhythm. As mentioned in one of the previous entries, the Texan interrupts the jabs of taller foes by jabbing whenever they do. However, he also builds off of the results of these jabs.

O'Malley will almost certainly be eager to counter Yanez's jabs. However, Adrian Yanez is a rhythm-changer, which allows him to counter his opponents' ill-placed counter-punches. He slows down the speed of his jab, causing longer and taller fighters to close the distance on him and create boxing exchanges in the pocket without risk to himself.