Veteranen Rani Yahya lovar att han ska överraska Dana White i sin första match på ett år mot nykomlingen Matthew Lopez på UFC Fight Night 91 inatt.
Det har gått ett år sedan veteranen Rani Yahya (21-8, 1 NC) senast stod i oktagonen och inatt ska han ta sig an den obesegrade nykomlingen Matthew Lopez (8-0) som har fått en hel del uppmärksamhet i Dana Whites program Lookin’ for a Fight. Yahya berättar för MMAFighting.com att han hoppas få mer respekt i organisationen efter en vinst mot Lopez.
He’s making his debut, but he has some attention around him after Dana White signed him, so a good performance against him puts me in a good spot in the UFC. Dana White is a great promoter and made the right choice by signing him. He deserves to be in the UFC, but I’m confident and prepared. I’ve fought fighters who are more experienced, former contenders. This is my 10th fight in the UFC and I’m used to competing in the Octagon, so I will surprise Dana White.”
Lopez har lyckats mycket bra i karriären med sju av åtta vinster har varit i Rond 1 varav fyra via submission men det kommer inte vara jätteenkelt för honom att vinna via submission mot en mästare i ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships.
”He’s undefeated with most of his wins in the first round. He has good back control and a good submission, but I know that already. I’m a grappler and that’s natural for me to defend it, but I still worked a lot to avoid any surprises in this area.”
”I’m ready to anything, to either submit him or knock him out. I’m not in a hurry. I’m prepared to win in the first round or go three rounds. I prepared for everything. In a perfect world you want a quick victory, of course. I had quick wins in the past, and it’s great when that happens, but I’m ready for a war.”
Det ett år långa avbrottet i karriären berodde på blödningar i levern efter en träff som han fick under matchen mot Masanori Kanehara (25-13-5) i juli förra året men nu är han redo för denna utmaning.
”After my last fight I received a six-month medical suspension because I had a bleeding in my liver after getting hit in the body early in the fight. That affected my performance in the fight. I guess I also didn’t cut the weight properly, did the wrong diet, and something went wrong. I felt bad right in the first minutes of the fight.”
”After the fight, I felt terrible and threw up in front of the doctors and they sent me to the hospital. I did some exams and they told me I wasn’t 100 percent, and asked me to do more exams when I arrived in Brazil. I did it twice, and was fine.”
Foto: Mazdak Cavian
