Rani Yahya is one of the best pure grapplers to ever enter the octagon and expects to excel in his UFC Vegas 21 bantamweight clash with Ray Rodriguez, scheduled for Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Yahya, an ADCC gold medalist and multiple-time champion on the jiu-jitsu circuit, has submitted 20 opponents in 26 professional MMA victories, half of those under the UFC and WEC banners. Rodriguez has picked up eight of his 16 wins by submission, but also been made to tap three times, including his UFC debut against Brian Kelleher.
“I don’t think he had much sense of strategy against Kelleher because Kelleher has great guillotines and he went straight for his leg, exposing his neck,” Yahya said in an interview with MMA Fighting.