Adrian Yanez is out of his UFC 334 fight with Juan Diaz, which knocks a featured prelim off the November 14 card at Madison Square Garden with less than a month to go.
UFC insider Kevin K broke it on X, writing that “Adrian Yanez Is OUT Of His #UFC334 Fight November 14th Per Sources.” That’s the whole explanation so far. Neither Yanez’s team nor the UFC has offered an injury, an illness or any other reason, and as of Saturday the promotion had not named a replacement for Diaz, according to NDTV Sports. I’d love a name attached to those sources, but the bout is gone either way.
This one stings a little more because Yanez doesn’t do this. He’s had two UFC bouts scrapped before, against Christian Quinonez and Aaron Phillips, and both times it was the other guy who pulled out. Per Essentially Sports, this is the first withdrawal of his UFC career.
He’s also had a strange couple of years. After a split-decision loss to Daniel Marcos in 2024, Yanez dealt with an undisclosed health issue and didn’t fight at all in 2025. He came back in March 2026 and fought Ricky Simon to a majority draw that a lot of people scored for Yanez. Then he went out at UFC 329 and knocked out former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt in the first round, which took care of any questions about whether the layoff had dulled him. Diaz would have been his third fight of 2026. With no reason given for the pullout, there’s no honest way to guess when he’s back.
The bigger problem is the card itself. UFC 334, the promotion’s 13th trip to New York City, has now lost three fights. Nazim Sadykhov vs. Jefferson Nascimento fell apart after Nascimento reportedly withdrew with an undisclosed injury and Sadykhov told the UFC he didn’t want a replacement opponent. Bysangur Susurkaev, the Khamzat Chimaev teammate, pulled out of his fight with Donte Johnson for undisclosed reasons, and that wasn’t the first time he’s been forced off a booking.
The prelims still have some meat on them. Stephen Thompson meets Charles Radtke in what’s set to be the last fight of his career. Wonderboy is on a three-fight skid and hasn’t won since beating Kevin Holland in 2022, and Essentially Sports suggested the UFC bump his bout into the featured prelim slot Yanez just vacated. Jim Miller, 43, gets Terrence McKinney, a guy who rarely sees a second round. Drew Dober vs. Chris Duncan is also on there, and that one should be loud.
My take: the UFC has about four weeks to find Juan Diaz somebody who’ll say yes, and that’s plenty of runway for a bantamweight who wants a Garden slot on short notice. Give me a hungry late replacement over another empty line on the bout sheet. And move Wonderboy up regardless, because a 13th New York show shouldn’t send him into retirement in the early prelims.
