A short-notice swap has transformed this bantamweight affair from
McGhee (10-2, 4-1 UFC) vs. Jakub Wiklacz to “The Maniac” against
“The Juice” Yannis (10-4, 1-1 UFC). The former is a massive betting
favorite as it is a dramatic step down in competition from past and
future champ Petr Yan to a beltholder from Fury FC who could not
get past Cameron Smotherman. Crazier things have happened, so there
is no reason to count the knockout-or-bust Texan. The fighters bump
fists with referee Jason Herzog watching on.
McGhee controls the center of the cage as the fight begins, with
the Arizonan walking down his opponent but not engaging with
anything. After about 30 seconds, McGhee offers up a spinning wheel
kick that is blocked. Yannis bounces from side to side to try to
find a way in, and it is his leg strikes that are working better.
McGhee wings a right hand and chains it into a spin, and Yannis
defends well enough and clips McGhee back with a left hand. McGhee
fires back with jabs, and they clash body kicks at the same time.
McGhee spins with a back kick that buzzes the tower, and Yannis
cannot make him pay for it.
McGhee pecks out with his jab, and he is beating Yannis to the
punch repeatedly. “The Maniac” leans back as a pair of punches fly
past him, and he keeps Yannis defensive as he remains in the center
of the Octagon with feints and fakes aplenty. Stringing three
punches together, McGhee gets in but he does not remain unscathed
as he takes a few shots on the way out. The jab from McGhee is
flustering his foe, who sells out for big strikes that miss by a
mile. McGhee jumps at his man with a knee, and he lands to spin
with a back fist. Yannis is stuck without answers, but he is not
being beaten into a pulp. He does get off a heavy left hand, and
McGhee rolls with it and steps to the side to evade the spinning
back kicked aimed at his side. Yannis lands a right hand and gets
his nose bloodied up with a combo. McGhee ends the round with his
jab. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 McGhee
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 McGhee
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 McGhee

The bantamweights meet in the middle, with McGhee offering up the
first offense in the form of a body kick. Yannis keeps his guard up
to block two subsequent head kicks and a spinner, but the low kick
from the MMA Lab fighter lands with an audible thud. McGhee sets up
a combination with a head kick and ends it with a short burst of
punches. McGhee’s jab cannot miss, and it is so effective that
Yannis is largely relegated to one strike at a time. Meanwhile,
McGhee lets his hands go. When he clips Yannis, Yannis revs up his
engine to throw back with his own flurry. McGhee slides away and
pecks at him with a jab that makes him wipe his nose. McGhee
remains elusive as he hops around while picking his shots
effectively, and Yannis may advance but is rarely engaging first
and making McGhee react to him. McGhee pirouettes twice with faked
spins, and Yannis sees through them and wings two big punches that
skim the betting favorite’s face.
A right hand to the body from McGhee opens up two upstairs, but
this also makes Yannis swing back with a vengeance. The two pick up
their intensity and start to load up a bit more, with the sounds of
impact gaining in decibel level. As they trade fists, McGhee gets
the better of an exchange and staggers Yannis back. He decides to
jump at Yannis with a knee, and when he lands, Yannis catches him
with a left hand. Yannis steels himself and starts putting hands on
McGhee, forcing him to reset and calm himself down. McGhee dips and
sticks with jabs to get back to his preferred strategy, and Yannis
is right in front of him putting it to him. The horn sounds. The
underdog gained some serious ground in this round, but was it
enough for him to win it? Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Yannis
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Yannis
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Yannis

McGhee moves to the center of the cage to get going in the last
round, and Yannis is jittery and using odd angles and footwork now.
McGhee keeps his hands down while he authors up kicks from a safe
range, taking more of a traditional martial arts stance with no
fear of reprisal. “The Maniac” tries a reverse crescent kick, and
Yannis crowds him and busts him in the face with a right hand.
McGhee spins with a back kick that pounds into the guard, and his
subsequent swings hit nothing but air. Yannis goes after him with
his jab outstretched, and he springs away repeatedly of the kicks
aimed at him until he times his own back fist that also misses.
Yannis steps in with a right hand, and McGhee turns it back on him
and lands a right hand and a kick.
Yannis chases after McGhee but is still hesitant to fully let his
hands go, and the two shadowbox for a bit until McGhee starts
attacking again. The low kicks from McGhee lead to head shots
upstairs, and he even mixes in a body kick and a level change.
Yannis shuts down the attempt and blocks the most dangerous of
attacks, but McGhee pins another body kick to his side and kiais
after connecting with it to add a little extra oomph. Yannis kicks
his front leg back hard, and he is knocked to the side when on the
offensive. He stops a takedown and gives a right hand back, and his
lead leg is kicked when he plants again. Yannis plods forward, and
McGhee forces him to back off when he attacks. McGhee aims another
kick to the ribs, and he blocks the response and two punches as
well. Yannis swings for the bleachers but whiffs everything at the
end, and the match comes to a close. In his post-fight interview,
the triumphant man declares himself as the "greatest skateboarder
in the UFC." Let's put that to the test. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 McGhee (29-28 McGhee)
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 McGhee (29-28 McGhee)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 McGhee (29-28 McGhee)
The Official Result
Marcus McGhee def. John Yannis via Unanimous Decision (30-27,
30-27, 29-28)

It’s Canada against the world in this rough UFC Fight Night card
that may yet deliver in terms of action but is sorely lacking in
the rankings-relevance department. Nevertheless, we persist, as
there are 43 fight cards to punch through this year and a fight fan
does not dine on caviar alone. The ground turkey of a fight card
provides 12 matches, with nine of those featuring a Canadian
athlete against a foreign adversary. The first fight of the night
is one of those bouts when newcomers collide, as Siraj (14-3, 0-0
UFC) reps his home country against Texas-based Yannis (9-4, 0-1
UFC) at 135 pounds. Drawing the first assignment of the evening is
referee Chris Desautels. The combatants touch ‘em up to seal the
cage around them, and it’s time for some action. Yannis, keeping his hands relatively low, positions himself early
in the center of the cage. Siraj switches stances back and forth to
introduce early difficulties to his foe, with the Canadian primed
and ready to fire off heavy counters. He steps in, lands a low kick
and hops back to evade one coming back at him. They pump-fake at
one another until Siraj spurs into action with a right hand and a
pair of front kicks. Yannis sits on a left hand to get Siraj’s
attention, but he is similarly caught in an exchange. Yannis drills
his opponent with a three-punch combo square on the jaw, knocking
Siraj down to the mat. Rather than playing around in the guard,
Yannis stands back up and allows Siraj to follow him, clipping him
with another right on the way up. Siraj appears to have shaken the
cobwebs out quickly, but he ducks down for a level change and has
his bell rung again. Yannis staggers and erects himself upright
again, but it is taking the right hand flush again and again.
Yannis opens up with a knee and another power right hook, shaking
the Canadian up. Siraj collapses to his back in a bad way, and
Yannis mounts his adversary and punishes him with ferocious elbows.
Siraj might have been knocked out from the bombardment of elbows,
and as he sits up, his eyes looking every direction but his
opponent’s, Desautels waves the fight off as he must have seen
something he did not like.
Yannis climbs off his
fallen foe to celebrate, while the defeated Canadian breaks down in
tears. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat in one
scene.
The Official Result
John
Yannis
def.
Jamie Siraj
R1 2:43 via TKO (Punches and Elbows)

On ultra-short notice, Michigan native Bashi (13-1, 0-1 UFC) finds
himself staring across the Octagon from Yannis (9-3, 0-0 UFC), a
striker by trade. This shifted stylistic clash to one more in line
with the grappler-striker archetype will be overseen by referee
Mark Smith, and the featherweights opt to bump fists. The newcomer takes to the center of the cage, keeping his guard up
to block a head kick from the massive betting favorite Bashi.
Yannis whiffs with a big punch, and Bashi responds with a mighty
hook that knocks Yannis back to the wall. Yannis ricochets off to
retaliate, but Bashi is nowhere to be struck. Bashi rushes at his
foe and completes a single-leg takedown, lifting Yannis in the air
and slamming him to the mat. Yannis scrambles, but he gives his
back up along the way. Bashi takes it, and he lets Yannis stand up
so he can cling to him like a malevolent backpack that hits him in
the face. Bashi softens his foe up while Yannis lowers himself back
to the floor, and the underdog tries all he might to shake Bashi of
him. Bashi stays on the back spamming heavy right hands, allowing
Yannis to turn so he can gain control of a traditional back
take. Bashi secures a body triangle while beating on Yannis on either
side of the head. Yannis breaks out of the body lock while under
fire, and he crawls the fence to wall-walk with Bashi still behind
him. Bashi, still on Yannis’ back, grips hold of a rear-naked choke and
torques his way back to put ample pressure on Yannis’ throat. The
submission is tight as a drum and going nowhere, and before Yannis
drops to the floor and goes out, he surrenders. The
crowd in the Apex loudly cheers the victory of the Michigan native,
with a fair number of fans in the building for the biggest favorite
of the evening cashing without likely absorbing a single
significant strike. That is one way to bounce back from your first
career loss, by running over the next person placed in front of
you.

John Yannis

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Striking Profile

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Grappling Profile

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Conclusions Summary