More than a year has passed since
Rani Yahya
last set foot inside the Octagon, a cold reality that has made him
that much more of a forgotten man in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship
bantamweight division. He was
booked opposite
Cody
Garbrandt twice in 2022, only to have recurring health issues
nix those plans.
“This is the longest time I’ll have been without a fight since I
started MMA, but it was time that I needed,” Yahya told
Sherdog.com. “I had a serious neck injury that caused me to drop
out of the fight with Garbrandt. It was going to be my biggest
fight ever. He’s a former champion and a big name, and it was going
to be a co-main event. It was going to be big for me.
“I had to stop and treat my injury,” he added. “It was negatively
affecting my quality of life. I couldn’t even sleep. I could do
next to nothing. I lost a lot of strength in my arm. I had to
forget I was a UFC fighter and completely shift my focus. When I
finally turned all that off, I was able to start rehabbing. Now,
I’m better than I was before the injury.”
Yahya’s confidence in modern medicine will be put to the test when
he returns to the cage to face
Montel
Jackson as part of the
UFC Fight Night 222 undercard this Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. A graduate of
Dana White’s Contender Series, Jackson has compiled a 6-2
record since he arrived on the UFC roster and steps into his latest
assignment on the strength of a three-fight winning streak. The
30-year-old Milwaukee native last appeared at UFC 281, where he
took a unanimous decision from
Julio Arce in
their three-round encounter on Nov. 12.
“He has a longer reach, and he’s a lefty,” Yahya said. “I think a
lot of folks have a hard time facing him due to those factors, but
that’s fine by me. I’ve faced several opponents like that
throughout my career, and I always did well. I think that will help
me in the end. I’m confident in facing him.”
Operating out of
American Top Team, Yahya has not competed since he laid claim
to a unanimous verdict over
Kyung Ho
Kang at UFC Fight Night 198 on Nov. 20, 2021. The win improved
his UFC mark to 12-4, but his layoff now sits at more than 500
days.
“The main thing for me was to feel good enough to fight,” Yahya
said. “I would never place myself in a situation where I’d fight
only for the money. Money was never my main motivation. My
motivation was always the challenge in front of me. Now, I’m happy.
I spent a lot of money on the training camps for the fights that
didn’t happen, but everything happens for a reason. I’ll fight and
make up for it all.”
Preparation for a return to action has stoked the longtime
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s competitive fires. Yahya turns 39
in September.
“I’ve been in this career for over 20 years,” he said. “It has been
a very long time. I feel that I keep getting better, as each fight
is greater than before. The sport keeps growing, and the UFC is
responsible for that. My next bout is always the most important,
and that increases my motivation.”