An undisclosed injury has forced Brazilian bantamweight veteran Rani Yahya out of a scheduled matchup with top-10 contender Aljamain Sterling, and UFC officials are on the hunt for a new opponent. MMAjunkie first reported news of Yahya’s withdrawal from the December 9th event.
Yahya (24-9, 1 NC) bounced back from a decision loss to Joe Soto by submitting Henry Briones with a kimura at UFC Mexico City in August. The longtime BJJ standout has lost just once in the UFC’s bantamweight division, but it looks as if his quest for a second consecutive win will have to wait until 2018.