Rani Yahya

Fighter Facts

• 4-3 in WEC, with wins over Mark Hominick, Yoshiro Maeda, Eddie Wineland, and John Hosman
   
• Earned three Submission of the Night awards in WEC (Maeda, Wineland, Hosman)
   
• Lost five round decision to Chase Beebe in 2007 challenge for the WEC bantamweight title
   
• 21 of 28 wins by submission (2 kimura, heel hook, 3 north-south, 2 RNC, 2 guillotine, D’Arce, Ezekiel, triangle, 5 arm triangle, keylock, armbar, Peruvian necktie)
   
• Fought Kid Yamamoto, Fredson Paixao, and Gesias Cavalcante in non-WEC / UFC bouts
   
• 12-3-1, 1 NC in last 17 bouts
   
• Has won five of his last seven (5-1-1)

UFC History

UFC Fight Night (3/13/21) Yahya won a three round unanimous decision over Kyung Ho Kang
UFC Fight Night (3/13/21) Yahya submitted Ray Rodriguez via arm triangle choke at 3:09 of the second round
UFC Fight Night (3/14/20) Yahya fought to a three round draw with Enrique Barzol
UFC 234 (2/10/19) Yahya lost a three round unanimous decision to Ricky Simon
UFC Fight Night (8/25/18) Yahya submitted Luke Sanders via heel hook at 1:31 of the first round
UFC on FOX (2/24/18) Yahya submitted Russell Doane via arm triangle choke at 2:32 of the third round
UFC Fight Night (8/5/17) Yahya submitted Henry Briones via kimura at 2:01 of the first round
UFC Fight Night (3/11/17) Yahya lost a three round unanimous decision to Joe Soto
UFC Fight Night (9/24/16) Yahya won a three round unanimous decision over Michinori Tanaka
UFC Fight Night (7/13/16) Yahya submitted Matthew Lopez via arm triangle choke at 4:19 of the third round
UFC Fight Night (7/15/15) Yahya won a three round split decision over Masanori Kanehara
UFC Fight Night (9/13/14) Yahya submitted Johnny Bedford via kimura at 2:04 of the second round
UFC Fight Night (4/11/14) Yahya’s bout against Johnny Bedford was ruled a no contest after an accidental clash of heads rendered Yahya unable to continue at :39 of the first round.
TUF 18 Finale (11/30/13) Yahya lost a three round split decision to Tom Niinimaki
UFC 163 (8/3/13) Yahya won a three round unanimous decision over Josh Clopton
UFC on FUEL TV (3/3/13) Yahya won a three round unanimous decision over Mizuto Hirota
UFC on FOX (8/4/12) Yahya submitted Josh Grispi via north/south choke at 3:15 of the first round
UFC 133 (8/6/11) Yahya lost a three round unanimous decision to Chad Mendes
UFC Fight for the Troops 2 (1/22/11) Yahya won a three round unanimous decision over Mike Brown.

Q&A

TRAINING: I train twice a day
When and why did you start training for fighting? Because fighting is in my blood. I started when I was 10 years old.
What ranks and titles have you held? Black belt in jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai. Three-time world jiu-jitsu champ, 2007 Abu-Dhabi world champion.
Do you have any heroes? Wolverine
What is your favorite technique? Chokes
What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It means all the best; I’m very happy to have this chance.
Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? I went to college in Brazil for two years to study nutrition, but I did not finish in order to dedicate myself to training for MMA.
What was your job before you started fighting? Teaching Jiu-Jitsu and MMA