Rani Ahmad Yahya[1] (born September 12, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and BJJ practitioner.
He won the 66 kg division of the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007.
[8] He trained judo, taekwondo and karate in his childhood, finding Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 11.
[10] Yahya submitted Hosman with a north–south choke in the first round and earned his third consecutive Submission of the Night bonus.
[15] Yahya was expected to face Chan Sung Jung on January 22, 2011, at UFC Fight Night 23.
[19] Yahya was expected to face Dustin Poirier on June 11, 2011, at UFC 131, but had to pull out of the bout due to injury.
[22] Yahya was expected to face Jonathan Brookins on February 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 1,[23] but was forced out of the bout with an injury.
Yahya fought Josh Grispi on August 4, 2012, at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera, replacing an injured Pablo Garza.
[25] Yahya faced promotional newcomer Mizuto Hirota on March 3, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 8.
[29] Yahya faced promotional newcomer Tom Niinimäki on November 30, 2013, at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale.
[31] Yahya faced Johnny Bedford in a bantamweight bout on April 11, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 39.
[32] The bout ended in a No Contest as an accidental clash of heads rendered Yahya unable to protect himself, forcing a referee stoppage at 0:39 of round 1.
[33][34] A rematch with Bedford was expected to take place on June 28, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs.
[36] The rescheduled rematch with Bedford eventually took place on September 13, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 51.
[41] Yahya next faced touted promotional newcomer Matthew Lopez on July 13, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 91.
[60] Yahya faced Ray Rodriguez on March 13, 2021, replacing Irwin Rivera, at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs.
[68] The bout with Garbrandt was rescheduled and is expected to take place on October 1, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 211.