Rani Yahya was supposed to face Cody Garbrandt in 2022, but a lingering neck injury forced him out of the match.
Now set to face Victor Henry on Saturday at UFC Vegas 91, Yahya wants to revisit the matchup.
“That fight was in my mind for a long time, because it was going to be the biggest fight of my life,” Yahya told MMA Fighting. “He’s a former champion, a big name, and it was going to be a co-main event at the time. Yes, [re-booking it] definitely is something I would like to do. My focus is on Victor Henry and that’s all I’m thinking right now, the same old cliche, but I admit that I do think about fighting Cody Garbrandt.”
Garbrandt was victorious against Trevin Jones and Brian Kelleher after the Yahya match fell through, but lost his most recent outing against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300.
Yahya, 39, also looks to return to the win column after suffering a TKO at the hands of Montel Jackson in April 2023. The Brazilian bantamweight was forced to cancel a planned fight with Alatengheili this past October due to injuries, but is finally 100 percent again.
“The doctors said I was cleared to fight [Alateng] but I still had some issues to fix,” Yahya said, “so I wanted to heal everything and only be back when I was ready to put on the best performance I could. I decided to take some time off. I had no rush to come back to fighting, I wanted to take time to recover and really be well again. I’ve been in this sport for 22 years and have a lot of mileage, more than 40 fights, and half of those are in the UFC, so I want to put on the best performance I can. I feel good now, and I want to use that experience in my favor.”
Yahya has won 13 of his 20 octagon appearances, a run that also includes a draw and one no-contest. He used his jiu-jitsu skills to submit seven of those opponents.
Henry holds two victories under the UFC banner, a pair of decisions over Tony Gravely and Raoni Barcelos. His last match, versus Javid Basharat in October, ended in a no-contest due to an accidental groin strike.
“He’s an MMA fighter that prefers to stand and throws kicks,” Yahya said of Henry. “He moves well and has good volume, but I don’t think he has heavy hands, a lethal knockout artist. He gives up too many openings on the feet too, but has shown good conditioning. Nothing too incredible technique-wise, both on the feet and on the ground. I think there are way too many openings I can explore.
“Everyone I fight wants to avoid grappling and I think it’s going to be the same with Henry, but he’s a guy who usually likes to grapple. I’ve seen some fights where he was able to get back to his feet and defend well against the fence. Nothing out of the ordinary, but he might decide to engage on the ground and take the risk. I’ve seen him use foot locks, catch-wrestling style, and some people that have fought him gave me some feedback. I’m ready for all scenarios. His coaches might tell him to avoid grappling, but sometimes we go back to our instincts in a fight.”
