Rani Yahya Is Taking His Career Fight By Fight Lately

Rani Yahya spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Michinori Tanaka at UFC Fight Night 95. Some highlights are below:

On developing the non-fight aspects of his career: “Before, I saw MMA only as a sport. I though I should focus only on my training and fighting and that was it. But I saw that taking care of your image, asking for things, it’s a prerequisite now. Being seen. The fighters who do it are getting more exposure. It’s a business. And I’m understanding more of it now, I’m working on that. I was sloppy about my image for a long time – social media and all. Now I have a team helping me with that. I’ve seen we need to have a more forward attitude in order to get things. I’m happy. I was out for a year, got this (UFC Fight Night 91 fight with Matthew Lopez), I won, started forcing it a bit more to get exposure, asked for a fight up there with the mic, and it worked. I think that’s the way.”

On his fight with Tanaka: “I expected a better ranked opponent, given how long I have been fighting. I’ve had 10 UFC fights. I thought it would’ve been fair. But there is reasoning behind the matchmaking. If (UFC matchmakers) Sean Shelby and Joe Silva gave me that fight, they must have had a reason. I think maybe is the fact that this athlete is also a ground guy, and we have similar characteristics. Maybe they want to see how I do against an opponent like that. Maybe they think it will be a crowd-pleasing fight.”

On if he feels underrated: “In a certain way, yes. There are people who are just arriving and get more limelight than I do. Sometimes I catch myself thinking, ‘This guy is just getting here, I’ve done so much more than him.’ But that’s just one side. I try to avoid making this sort of comparison. I think every athlete has their own space to do their own thing. At the same time, I have many fans around the world who know me and like my work. This makes me feel great. And I get along with all UFC employees, they appreciate me as well. I think that’s it, I just need to understand this sport as a business and have more of an attitude when it comes to asking for things. Many people mistake it for arrogance, think we’re being disrespectful, but I think that’s not the case. I think every martial artist has respect, it’s not about that. It’s about speaking up and making the most of the spotlight.”

On his last fight: “I had many fights in my career that I left without a scratch, that I won quickly via submission. In my head, it seemed like the most intelligent way of fighting. You go in there, win, remain unharmed and go home. But I noticed that, in these fights, I didn’t get as many compliments as I did for my last one. My last fight had many twists and turns, a lot of back and forth. He had good moments, I had good moments, he hit me, I hit him. It entertained the fans. I didn’t think it was the most intelligent fight. I think I could have finished it faster. But it was entertaining and got compliments. I think our work is for the fans. They’re the ones who indirectly pay our bills, so we do need to put on good shows for the fans.”

On if he’s ever considered another career: “Oh, several times. [laughs] On fight night, I’m calm all day. Even at the locker room, when I’m walking out to the octagon, I’m very calm. But there’s always a time during the day when I ask myself, ‘What am I doing here? I could be doing anything else.’ I think that to myself, but then I know it’s what I love. I love being on a mat, training, teaching. I think it’s my calling.”

On his goals going forward for his career: “Lately, I haven’t been thinking too far ahead – I changed that recently. I’ve been taking it fight by fight, but I certainly want to fight for the belt. My goal is becoming the champion, and I believe I have all the abilities to do that. (Against Tanaka) I’m preparing to have the best performance possible. I have a tough opponent. He’s only had one loss, a split decision, so he deserves to be there. I don’t look past him in any way, he’s a dangerous guy. But I have all the tools to have a good night over him. I’ve been studying him a lot, there’s nothing he can do that can surprise me. I’m very prepared.”

On who he wants to fight next: “One would be against Bryan Caraway, because he said he was the best in the world on the ground. And, since I’m a ground guy, too, I would be interested in doing that fight. And there’s also Urijah Faber, who fought for the belt, and I think its a fight that would make a lot of sense for various reasons. We got our MMA starts at around the same time, we’re the same generation. I looked it up, and he holds the records for submissions at bantamweight, and after him it’s me and Renan Barao. Now that Barao moved up, I think this would be an interesting fight. I’m not calling them out, I think they would be good fights. I’ve talked to them, I think they’re nice and I respect them. I would actually like to fight them for that reason, because I think they’re good fighters.”