Rani Yahya Record: 28-12-1

WEC run

It was in the WEC that Yahya's submission game truly shone. In June 2007 he choked out future contender Mark Hominick with a first-round rear-naked choke, and although he dropped a five-round decision to Chase Beebe later that year, he kept tapping people. He guillotined Yoshiro Maeda in 2008, then ran off first-round finishes of Eddie Wineland and John Hosman in 2009. A knockout loss to Joseph Benavidez that December and a 2010 decision defeat to Takeya Mizugaki showed the limits of leaning solely on grappling, but his ceiling as a finisher was never in doubt.

UFC tenure

When the WEC merged into the UFC, Yahya carried his game to the sport's biggest stage and stayed for more than a decade. He outpointed former champion Mike Brown in 2011 and, despite a loss to Chad Mendes, kept producing signature submissions — a 2012 north-south choke of Josh Grispi, a 2014 kimura over Johnny Bedford, and an arm-triangle of unbeaten Matthew Lopez in 2016. He kept finding the finish into his late thirties, including a 2017 kimura of Henry Briones and a 2018 heel hook of Luke Sanders. The closing chapters were tougher — a 2020 majority draw with Enrique Barzola, then back-to-back losses to Montel Jackson in 2023 and Victor Henry in 2024 — but the body of work speaks for itself.

Fighting style

Yahya is a pure submission specialist, and the numbers are unambiguous: 21 of his 28 wins have come by tap, and he owns zero career knockouts — a 75% finish rate built almost entirely on the ground. Arm-triangles, north-south chokes, guillotines, kimuras and leg locks all live in his arsenal, and he is happy to pull guard or initiate scrambles to get there. The trade-off has been clear throughout his career: when opponents keep the fight standing and defend his entries, his lack of knockout power means he can be out-struck or out-pointed, and several of his losses have come against pressure strikers. But as a finisher off his back or on top, few bantamweights in history have been more dangerous.

Career highlights

• ADCC world champion-level grappler — an elite submission pedigree, including a division win at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship and IBJJF World medals up the belts.
• 21 submission wins — a 75% finish rate with zero KOs, making him one of the most prolific pure-grappling finishers the sport has seen.
• Decade-plus UFC veteran — beat names like Mike Brown and tapped the likes of Josh Grispi, Johnny Bedford and Luke Sanders across a long, durable Octagon run.