Rani Yahya Says Striking Was All Part of His Plan at UFC Fight Night 91

Rani Yahya spoke with MMAjunkie about his win over Matthew Lopez at UFC Fight Night 91. Some highlights are below:

On his striking gameplan against Lopez: “I wanted to surprise him because he’s a wrestler and it wasn’t going to be easy to take him down. So, I wanted to surprise him. He came to kill me, I felt. (He was throwing) hard punches. I have excellent striking coaches, I’ve been training striking a long time. It’s just feeling comfortable to use that in the octagon and I’m feeling very comfortable right now.”

On learning from Demian Maia: “Demian is definitely the exception. He is taking people down when people know what he’s going to do and he still does it. I’ve got to learn from him. But it’s a MMA fight. We got to the point where I felt like I had no choice and I had to strike. I really came to knock the guy out.”