Rani Yahya will fight Ray Rodriguez in a bantamweight clash at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad. Yahya, a 36-year-old veteran of the game, is a submission maestro. He has a massive tally of 20 submission wins to his name.

As for Rodriguez, this will be his second fight inside the octagon. Rodriguez is an alumnus of Dana White’s Contender Series. But he lost his fight there with a Tony Gravely TKO. Rodriguez was submitted by Brian Kelleher in his UFC debut.

Yahya is coming off a draw in his last fight against Enrique Barzola. His chin is questionable as he has a tendency to get rocked in his fight. However, against Barzola, Yahya showed his ability to control his opponent on the ground. Considering Barzola’s pedigree in the bantamweight division, that was a big achievement on Yahya’s part.

Yahya has won 3 out of his last 5 fights. He lost to Ricky Simon prior to his fight against Barzola. Before that, he submitted Luke Sanders, Russell Doane, and Enrique Briones on the trot.

The Brazilian, Yahya, is a true veteran of the UFC. He has been competing in the promotion since its WEC days. Apart from Ricky Simon, Joe Soto, Tom Niinimaki, and Chad Mendes have been the only other fighters to defeat him in the UFC. Yahya has also fought in organizations like K-1.

Rani Yahya and Ray Rodriguez in numbers

Yahya has a professional record of 26-10. He has 20 finishes in his resume, all by submission. His most notable victims are Eddie Wineland, Luke Sanders, Enrique Briones, and more.

As for Rodriguez, he hasn’t fought the same level of opponents as Yahya. The former LFA veteran has a professional record of 16-7. ‘The Judge’ has 11 career finishes with 3 coming by T/KO and 8 by submission.

Yahya has a takedown average of 2.86 with an accuracy of 32%. His submission average is 2.0 per 15 minutes. He is predominantly a ground game artist. So is Rodriguez.

It will be interesting to see if both fighters will be willing to test their counterpart’s grappling pedigree. Standing up, it will be a fun contest. But it’s hard to imagine Rodriguez troubling Yahya in that department.

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And Yahya’s ability to control his opponents on the mat should be enough to earn him a decision as Rodriguez might be slick enough to be submitted.

Final Prediction: Rani Yahya by decision.

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