Victor Henry won, showcasing the skills that let him defeat the underrated and dangerous Raoni Barcelos. Just like against Barcelos, his pace, cardio, and smooth striking overwhelmed an older opponent in Henry’s UFC debut. However, Raoni was not as old as Rani Yahya, who turned thirty-nine in January. The longtime UFC veteran and former ADCC silver medalist had made a career with his jiu-jitsu skills, going 13-5 in the promotion before he met Victor Henry. Perhaps his age caught up with him, or perhaps Victor Henry is just that good, or perhaps both.

Henry started by hardly throwing a shot, circling Yahya from the outside and seemingly getting his reads. His first committed punch was a left hook that staggered Rani momentarily, but he did not go after him as the veteran’s recoverability saves him. Yahya constantly kicked to begin, then faked a kick to a level change to get to a leg and get Victor’s back when he turned away. He tried to jump on the back but Henry was immediately able to turn and get his shoulders around to force a clinch, then break away.

The same thing happened again and Yahya had more success but this time when Henry scrambled up he held Rani against the fence for a while, not breaking to strike. He worked the body with knees and then let go and stalked Yahya as he circled the cage. The final twenty seconds of the round he was finally able to corner the vet and do some solid damage to him in a flurry before the horn.

After some technical advice between rounds from Henry’s coach, former UFC heavyweight contender Josh Barnett, Henry was more consistently aggressive in the second round. His twitchy, high-volume style began to overwhelm Yahya somewhat on the feet, though the Brazilian had good defense. His first takedown was stuffed easily, and his second was stuffed with only slightly more difficulty. After the secoind one Henry landed a combination which knocked the mouthpiece of Yahya out, but the black belt stayed durable as ever. Henry’s targeting of the body with kicks began to really wear out the much older fighter; he looked great and was clearly feeling the throw by the end of the round with dominance and high amounts of damage.

In the final minute Henry overwhelmed Yahya so much that he earned a knockdown, as Rani fell to his knees against the cage. The bout looked like it might be stopped but Yahya moved just enough to stay in it as Henry tried to punch him for about forty straight seconds at the end of the round.

The final round began with Rani clearly not done yet. He tried everything, even rolling for a leg lock. However the wrestling and grappling experience of Henry is not insignificant, so he was able to free his leg and land ground strikes. He decided to then let Rani up. On the feet, Henry immediately knocked his foe down. He again tried to close the fight out with ground and pound, getting closer than ever before.

Still, Yahya did just enough to survive. But he was completely gassed and a long flurry against the fence, with a head kick included, Jason Herzog stopped the fight. Rani Yahya did not go down then, showing the toughness that helped him become a legend, but he could just no longer mount enough of a defense to make the fight worth fighting anymore.

His post-fight interview displayed a smart and aware fighter, one who is now on the track towards the top-15 once again and is ready to fight anyone. However, he says he must first, “Fight some Korean BBQ.”

Official Result: Victor Henry def. Rani Yahya by TKO (head kick and punches), Round 3, 2:36

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Yahya entered the bout at 38-years old on the back of a two-fight winning streak. Amazingly, Rani had never been finished in nineteen UFC fights, but Montel Jackson looked to break the Brazilian’s streak. Jackson entered his ninth UFC bout with a 6-2 record, including three in a row going back to 2020. A win here could be huge for Jackson’s chances of getting a ranked opponent next in the stacked bantamweight division.

Montel Jackson came out trying to push back Yahya and use his long limbs to do damage. Yahya was unable to do much in the early going. Ninety seconds in he shot a single leg takedown and held on even as Jackson reversed it and pushed him to the ground. As a jiu-jitsu expert, Rani was presumably happy when he ended up in full guard. He locked down Montel’s arms and looked to throw up submissions but Jackson was able to escape and stand up.

With ninety seconds left in the round, Jackson countered his foe with a big left hook and dropped the veteran. Jackson was willing to enter Yahya’s guard and was proved correct in doing so as hammerfists finished the job, finishing Rani Yahya for the first time in the UFC.

Those @Montello135 hands are QUICK 👊 #UFCVegas71 pic.twitter.com/2JA3im5cXI

— UFC (@ufc) April 22, 2023

Official Result: Montel Jackson def. Rani Yahya by TKO (punches), Round 1, 3:42

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Garbrandt (12-5) and Yahya (28-10-1, 1NC) will now face off at the UFC’s October 1, 2022 Fight Night event. MMA Mania was first to report the news; Garbrandt subsequently confirmed the new date on social media.

Currently mired in a 1-5 slump, “No Love” Garbrandt will be looking to return to the win column after a disastrous foray down to 125 pounds. Making his flyweight debut at UFC 269 last December, Garbrandt was knocked out by Kai Kara-France inside of a round.

Garbrandt’s lone win in his current rough patch came against Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 in June of 2020. That fight saw the ex-champ land a highlight reel KO of his own. The Team Alpha MMA fighter has lost to Rob Font, Pedro Munhoz, and T.J. Dillashaw (twice) going back to 2017.

Yahya is undefeated in his last three fights, posting a 2-0-1 record in that span. Following a draw against Enrique Barzola (who now calls Bellator MMA home), Yahya has picked up wins over Ray Rodriguez and Kang Kyung-Ho.

The UFC’s October 1, 2022 Fight Night event does not yet have a location, venue, or broadcast plan officially announced. Strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan are expected to headline. The following match-ups have been reported for the card:

• Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Leah Letson vs. Chelsea Chandler
• Vinc Pichel vs. Jesse Ronson
• Cheyanne Vlismas vs. Tabatha Ricci
• Randy Costa vs. Guido Cannetti
• Brendan Allen vs. Krzysztof Jotko
• John Castañeda vs. Daniel Santos
• Francisco Trinaldo vs. Randy Brown
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Rani Yahya

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Garbrandt (12-5) is set to take on Rani Yahya (28-10-1, 1NC) at a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for July 9, 2022. MMA Fighting was first to report news of the match-up, which Garbrandt subsequently confirmed on social media.

Cody “No Love” has struggled since losing his 135 pound title in 2017, winning but a single fight since that time. After dropping the belt to T.J. Dillashaw, Garbrandt was knocked out in the rematch, then finished by Pedro Munhoz.

A highlight reel KO of Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 in June of 2020 bought Garbrandt a brief reprieve. But he later lost a decision against Rob Font, and was most recently finished by Kai Kara-France in an ill-fated move to flyweight.

It will be back to bantamweight against Yahya, who debuted in the UFC over a decade ago after a stint in the WEC. In his last two outings, Brazil’s Yahya, 37, has picked up wins over Ray Rodriguez and Kyung Ho Kang. His only loss since March of 2017 came against the durable Ricky Simon; Yahya has amassed a record of 5-1-1 across his last seven fights.

The UFC’s July 9 Fight Night event does not yet have a venue, location, or broadcast plan officially announced. The following fights have been reported for the card:

• Ronnie Lawrence vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov
• Nina Nunes vs. Cynthia Calvillo
• Antonina Shevchenko vs. Cortney Casey
• Josh Fremd vs. Tresean Gore
• Said Nurmagomedov vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade
• Jamie Pickett vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
• Caio Borralho vs. Armen Petrosyan
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Rani Yahya

The post Cody Garbrandt vs. Rani Yahya Lined Up for UFC’s July 9 Card appeared first on Cageside Press.

Ketlen Vieira

A win over Miesha Tate still means something in 2021. It’s that simple. Tate looked good earlier this year in her return from a four-plus year layoff, and she didn’t look terrible against Ketlen Vieira on Saturday. In fact there’s an argument to be made that Vieira showed the ex-champ too much respect, especially during the early going of the fight.

Regardless, Vieira earned the decision win, and should move up a spot or two in the bantamweight rankings. It’s an awfully thin division these days, as Amanda Nunes has pretty much cleaned house at 135lbs. Julianna Pena is getting a title shot off a single win, but that should not become a trend. Vieira needs another win or two, but now you have a problem. Vieira just lost to Yana Kunitskaya, Pena has the title shot, Aspen Ladd may be a featherweight moving forward, Vieira lost to Irene Aldana in 2019, Holly Holm was most recently booked in a featherweight fight — and that leaves Germaine de Randamie, who is the #1 ranked women’s bantamweight in the promotion. GDR was supposed to fight Aldana recently, put pulled out due to injury. Since Aldana needs an opponent, let’s run that fight back and she who’s made the most progress in the past two years.

Vieira’s next fight: Irene Aldana

Sean Brady

Sean Brady improved to 15-0 with his win over Michael Chiesa, and it’s safe to say he has arrived as a contender at 170lbs. Brady called his own shot after the fight, and suggested he take on the winner of Stephen Thompson vs. Belal Muhammad. Well, thanks for doing our job for us Sean! We like that fight.

Brady’s next fight: Thompson vs. Muhammad winner.

Taila Santos

Taila Santos is now 2-0 against Syndicate MMA fighters. She’s an impressive 19-1 as a pro, and has put together four straight wins in the UFC’s women’s flyweight division. That includes a win over former title challenger Roxanne Modafferi, who fought for the inaugural title, and now Joanne Wood, who was once promised a title shot only to see it slip away when she chose to stay active rather than wait for the fight.

There were questions about Santos’ quality of competition, but she has answered those. She also secured the only finish on the entire UFC Vegas 43 card on Saturday. Champ Valentina Shevchenko is constantly in need of fresh bodies, and Santos could easily be one.

Andrea Lee just put on a clinic against Cynthia Calvillo. Book these two, and the winner of Lee vs. Santos could get the next title shot.

Santo’s next fight: KGB Lee

Rani Yahya

At 37, Rani Yahya’s window in the bantamweight division is rapidly closing. He’s unranked, but wins more than he loses. On Saturday, he got past Kyung Ho Kang, making it two straight victories for the Brazilian. Frankie Edgar is 40, still just inside the top 15, and looked solid until he was caught by Marlon Vera earlier this month. Edgar has hinted at retirement but hasn’t committed, if he sticks around, this kind of fight could tell us a lot. And it feels a lot better than feeding “The Answer” to someone half his age.

Yahya’s next fight: Frankie Edgar

Adrian Yanez

The UFC’s newest bonus-winning machine (four post-fight bonuses in four fights) has a bright future at 135lbs. There is no better way to start your UFC career than what Adrian Yanez has done. Three Performance of the Night bonuses, and now a Fight of the Night against Davey Grant. Yanez is also an extremely likeable, well-spoken young fighter who fans are starting to treat as must-see TV.

Sean O’Malley actually suggested a March date with Yanez after the latter defeated Grant at UFC Vegas 43. That could be a heck of a fun match-up, even though O’Malley should probably start fighting ranked opponents. O’Malley is fighting Raulian Paiva at UFC 269 in a few weeks, and the winner of that getting Yanez actually sounds pretty fun.

Yanez’s next fight: winner of O’Malley vs. Paiva

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 43 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

Yahya (28-10-1) picked up his 13th win inside of the octagon on Saturday as he defeated Kang via unanimous decision. The 37-year old UFC veteran was very happy to have the fight between him and Kang behind him after training for him for seven months and having the fight canceled once before.

“It’s been seven months, you know? The fight got canceled on the day of the fight, and that generated more expectation to face him. For such a long time, I was training to fight him, finding people to simulate him-taller people with length and the same abilities that he has. Now, it is finally over, and I am happy about that,” Yahya told Cageside Press during his post-fight interview.

With time not being on his side, the Brazilian hopes to have his best year yet in 2022.

“I want the best 2022 ever, of course,” Yahya laughed. I want it to be the best year of my career.” Yahya said he has to go home and take care of a little injury in his eye and then get back to it. As for names, he has two in mind.

“Talking about names, Marlon Vera is a good name. We were supposed to fight once, but I had some personal things that made me not take the fight at the time. There is a lot of hype on him, and I would love to fight him,” Yahya said.

“And of course, [Sean] O’Malley. Everyone wants to fight him. I think that would be very good fight; interesting for the UFC, too because I see the UFC make him fight with people they believe he will beat. I think at this point, I’m 37, a veteran; maybe they would believe that he would beat me. So, I think it is a reasonable fight.”

Watch the rest of Rani Yahya’s UFC Vegas 43 post-fight interview above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

The post UFC Vegas 43: Rani Yahya Wants To Fight Marlon Vera or Sean O’Malley appeared first on Cageside Press.

Initially booked for July, the fight was postponed when Yahya tested positive for COVID-19 — with the result not coming back until just hours before the fight was set to go down.

The waiting finally came to an end Saturday, with the bantamweights part of the main card at the UFC Apex.

The first round opened up at a very fast pace as Kang threw a flying knee which was caught by Rani Yahya, who took the fight to the ground with a double leg. Early in the fight Yahya looked to take the back of Kang, but Kang got to his feet and as Yahya tried to roll and get a leg lock, Kang escaped and back to the feet the fight went. A power right landed on Yahya, which almost froze him in place. Powerful shots connected, dropping him to the ground. Yahya looked to have recovered as the round ended.

Round Two opened with another power right landing from Kang. Yahya took the fight back to the ground where he was more comfortable— rolling to the back, locking in the body lock. Kang could only defend strikes and submission attempts early. Yahya controlled the back for entire round with submission attempts and punches to the head of Kang.

We knew both men’s strategies going into the third: Kang wanted to keep it standing and Yahya wanted the fight on the ground to get back to another dominant position. After being hit with Kang’s powerful strikes, Yahya got the fight back to the ground and threatened with a brief arm triangle attempt. Kang seemed to be running out of time to get the fight back standing where he was most successful. Yahya kept busy in Kang’s full guard, landing strikes as the round came to a close with Yahya in top position, earning him the decision victory.

29-28 across the board gives @RaniYahya_MMA the UD victory 🙌

[ #UFCVegas43 | Main Card LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/lSfgS3ipvI

— UFC (@ufc) November 21, 2021

Official Result: Rani Yahya def. Kyung Ho Kang by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 43: Rani Yahya’s Grappling Leads to Clear Victory Over Kyung Ho Kang appeared first on Cageside Press.

Yahya (27-10-1) and Kang were supposed to fight on July 31. The pair did interviews, weighed in, faced off, and then the day of the fight, Yahya tested positive for COVID-19. Kang would not get another opponent, and the bout was scrapped.

The Brazilian had hoped that the fight would happen a lot sooner, like in September or October, but November is when the pair will finally fight. Fingers crossed and knock on wood.

Yahya was happy that the fight was rebooked, and that he didn’t get a new opponent. He is also excited that he finally gets to put hands on Kang because he was so close to last time.

“I think it was better for it to be against him because we did everything before, we had the camp, we had the weigh-ins, we had the faceoff,” Yahya told the press during the UFC Vegas 43 media day. “The only thing that didn’t happen was the actual fight. During the faceoff, I felt the heat. All with respect, he’s a respectful guy, but I felt I need to put my hands on him.”

During this new training camp, Yahya said that he didn’t change the game plan. Instead, he just sharpened the game plan and got better with better technique.

Yahya and Kang will finally do battle on the main card this weekend.

Watch the rest of Rani Yahya’s UFC Vegas 43 media day interview above. More coverage of the event can be found below.

The post UFC Vegas 43: Rani Yahya Eager To Put Hands On Kyung Ho Kang appeared first on Cageside Press.

Saturday afternoon, co-main event bantamweight Rani Yahya announced on social media that he was off the card, after testing positive for COVID-19. Yahya had been expected to face South Korea’s Kyung Ho Kang in the penultimate fight of the evening.

“Hey guys, my fight just got cancelled. I tested positive for the COVID-19 test that was made yesterday,” Yahya wrote, announcing the news. “I feel very good physically, and I believe that everything happens for a reason. Thank you all for the support!!”

It is not the first time UFC Vegas 33 (UFC on ESPN 28) has lost a co-headliner. Originally, Roman Kopylov vs. Sam Alvey held co-main event status. Visa issues for Kopylov scrapped that bout.

Chris Daukaus vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov was then slotted into the co-main event spot. Abdurakhimov was forced to withdraw from the fight, however, ostensibly due to a COVID-19 positive within his camp.

Ever so briefly, Niklas Stolze vs. Mounir Lazzez was promoted to the co-main event. However, with Lazzez pulling out, and Jared Gooden stepping in, that fight was pushed back down the card.

That left Rani Yahya vs. Kyung Ho Kang, which is now also off the UFC Vegas 33 card. The promotion has yet to announce what fight will serve as Saturday’s co-feature, although whatever fight lands there is probably doomed at this rate.

The current UFC Vegas 33 line-up breaks down as follows:

Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland
Cheyanne Buys vs. Gloria de Paula
Jared Gooden vs. Niklas Stolze
Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt
Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Collin Anglin
Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Rafa Garcia
Danny Chavez vs. Kai Kamaka III
Jinh Yu Frey vs. Ashley Yoder
Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit
Philip Rowe vs. Orion Cosce

The post Another Fight Bites the Dust: UFC Vegas 33 Loses Co-Main Event, Again appeared first on Cageside Press.

It has been almost two years since Kang has been in the octagon. He last fought against Liu Pingyuan in his hometown of Busan, South Korea, back in 2019.

During the UFC Vegas 33 media day, Kang explained his lengthy layoff.

“I had some life changes after my last fight. I got married, so I did take some time off to prepare for that. I did have another fight booked, but then it got canceled because I got an orbital fracture,” Kang told Cageside Press through a translator on Thursday.

The South Korean did say that while the global pandemic made training a little bit hard with adjustments and delays, he did say that he was training during 2020.

Kang is on a three-fight win streak with wins over Pingyuan, Brandon Davis, and Teruto Ishihara. Next, he faces UFC veteran Rani Yahya in the co-main event of the evening. This will be Kang’s first UFC co-main event, and because of that, he is just a little nervous.

“Obviously, because I am the co-main event, there is a lot more attention with my fight, so it does make me a little nervous because of the pressure, but I’m great. I love it,” Kang said.

Yahya is coming off a submission win over Ray Rodriguez back in March.

Watch the full UFC Vegas 33 media day scrum with Kyung Ho Kang above. The event takes place this Saturday, July 31, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV.

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