If all had gone according to plan, UFC Vegas 58 on July 9th would have featured a bantamweight showdown between former champ Cody Garbrandt and Rani Yahya. Unfortunately, that bout was scrapped after Yahya suffered a neck injury in training.
Now MMA Mania has confirmed via sources close to the fight that Garbrandt vs. Yahya has been rebooked for an October 1st UFC Fight Night. The event, currently dubbed UFC on ESPN+ 69, is set to be headlined by a women’s strawweight bout between Mackenzie Dern vs. Yan Xiaonan. No location has been announced for the card at this time, although the UFC Apex is still the venue of choice for most non-major Fight Night cards.
Cody Garbrandt is on a 1-5 skid and most recently lost his flyweight debut to Kai Kara-France via first round TKO in December 2021. He’s returning to bantamweight where he’s spent the vast majority of his career and won the UFC bantamweight belt off Dominick Cruz in 2016. His reign was a short one, though. He lost the title to TJ Dillashaw in his first title defense, and then was defeated in an immediate rematch several months later.
One year ago today, with his back against the wall, literally and figuratively, Cody Garbrandt flatlined Raphael Assuncão.
pic.twitter.com/Y9UFfBNfPA— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) June 6, 2021
Rani Yahya comes into this fight with Garbrandt on a two fight winning streak and is 2-0-1 over the past two years. The 37-year old grappler continues to hang in the ultra-competitive 135-pound division, despite being longtime veteran who came into the WEC back in 2007. Yahya has a 28-10 record in MMA, with 21 submission wins … and zero KO/TKO wins.
When originally announced, many saw this as the UFC’s attempt to give Cody Garbrandt a rare turnaround fight, which only seems fair after matching him with number 7 ranked bantamweight Rob Font and number 3 ranked flyweight Kai Kara-France. Neither Garbrandt nor Yahya are ranked at bantamweight right now, and Yahya is one of the few UFC veterans with no knockouts to his name.
Rani Yahya with the 21st submission win of his pro career #UFCVegas21 pic.twitter.com/R0EVeL3itk
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 13, 2021
That perception will only increase now that the UFC has rebooked Garbrandt and Yahya four months after their original booking fell through. “No Love” will still have to watch out for Yahya as the Brazilian is known for his aggressive and unconventional submission game.