Juan Diaz is reportedly set to face Alateng Heili (Alatengheili) in a bantamweight bout at UFC 334: Gane vs. Hokit on November 14, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York, according to Middle Easy, which cited a report from Marcel Dorff on November 6. Alateng steps in for Adrian Yanez, who withdrew from the card. Pugna MMA's database already lists the matchup as Diaz's upcoming fight; the UFC's public card had not been updated when Middle Easy checked.
What was reported
Middle Easy said the matchup change was reported on November 6 and that the UFC's public listing still showed Yanez opposite Diaz at that point, so the promotion had not yet reflected the change. Bloody Elbow reported that Alateng joined the card on about eight days' notice. The event is headlined by Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit.
Yanez was pulled from the card in October. Bloody Elbow published a report on October 19 saying he confirmed his withdrawal in a post from a hospital bed, and MMA Mania described the cause as an undisclosed medical condition. Yanez did not specify a diagnosis in the coverage we found, so none is stated here.
Diaz and Alateng
Diaz, a Peruvian bantamweight known as "Pegajoso", is 16-1-1 and on a nine-fight winning streak, according to Middle Easy. He made his UFC debut on May 16 at UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Costa, where he submitted Malcolm Wellmaker in the second round. Pugna MMA's database lists his wins as five by knockout or TKO, three by submission and eight by decision. Before the UFC he won on Dana White's Contender Series in October 2025, stopping Kwon Won-Il in round two.
Wellmaker lost again on October 10, stopped by Otari Tanzilov in round two, according to our data.
Alateng, from China and nicknamed "The Mongolian Knight", is 18-10-2, with ten of his wins by decision, five by knockout and three by submission, per Middle Easy and Pugna MMA. He has won three straight, most recently by split decision over John Castaneda on September 26. Taking a fight on short notice against an unbeaten-in-the-UFC opponent gives him a chance to extend that run in front of a New York crowd.
Yanez and what comes next
Yanez had been scheduled as Diaz's first UFC test since the debut. His last fight was a first-round TKO win over Cody Garbrandt at UFC 329 on July 11, according to Pugna MMA's data. Garbrandt, 15-8, had won a decision over Xiao Long in March before that loss.
For Diaz, the change keeps him on the Madison Square Garden card on November 14. Until the UFC updates its public listing, the bout remains a report even though Pugna MMA already shows it as Diaz's next fight. We will update this story when the promotion confirms the booking.
Follow Diaz, Alateng, Yanez and the UFC 334 card in the free Pugna MMA app, with live round-by-round results and a free no-money prediction game in eight languages.
Sources
This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.